Funny how a month can seem to pretty much fly by without hardly any notice. I didn't post at all during September, and now, here it is, Ocotber 4th! And I don't really know what I did all month to have it start and end so quickly. It started out fairly warm and sunny, and last week was about the same, sunny and in the 70's.

So, let me see if I can think back to September and remember what might have taken place.  We've had some construction done on the house because of water leaking into our garage. Not that it really occupied much of my time, but it has impacted some of the things around the house. The windows arrived today and should be put in soon, and that will be really nice. We will have a new 3-season room where our screened in patio was. Right now, the openings for the windows are just papered over, making it rather dark in the front of the house. And we ordered the floor covering today. It will be great once its all done. Here is what it looked like about 2 weeks ago:

This is what it looks like from the inside.

This is what it looks like from the outside.

I am hoping the house doesn't look too different from the outside because I have ordered Christmas cards that use a photo from last winter. Oh, well, not many people actually know what our house looks like anyway!

About the only other thing significant about last month is that I did have a manager's meeting over in Manchester, New Hampshire last week. The meeting was.............okay............but I did stay at my sister's house which is always fun. The meeting went from 8:30am until 6pm on Thursday, so I didn't want' to drive all the way back home that night, so I stayed until Friday about noon. I got to see my niece and her son who are visiting from Singapore. It was good to see them.

And now, the days are quickly loosing their hours of sunlight, I am using my headlights driving home from work, the trees are starting to show off their autumn finery, and we could see the first flakes of white stuff in the coming weeks (our low tomorrow night is 32!) But, for now, I will try to slow down some and enjoy the October days.

A Quake and A 'Cane

On Tuesday, just as I had finished lunch with a friend and started some grocery shopping, I get this text from my daughter who works in D.C.:
     "If you're worried mom, im fine!
That's it. No explanation. No reason.
Now, she works in D.C. And lots of things happen there. And it's not like I randomly get messages like this from her. It's not like she had gone missing for days, hadn't communicated with me in months, just came out of surgery or swam the English Channel. Now I was worried! Thank goodness for I-Phones, or at least instant access to the Internet from the cereal aisle in the grocery store. I pull up my trusty news app, and there is the top story: 5.8 Earthquake rocks D.C. and New York! EARTHQUAKE! That's crazy! (What was crazier were the people in Vermont who swore they felt it.) After a few more texts and knowing that she is safe and back at her desk once she realized there wasn't a bomb, I go back to deciding on Trix cereal or Sugar Pops (not for me.) And I use this topic of discussion several times in the next few days at my job when the earthquake conversation comes up. I tell people about the random text I got from my daughter! I was glad she was safe. The next day I talk to my other daughter who ended up in a doorway at her house when things started falling down around her. This comes from years in Japan where we did experience an 8.6 earthquake, and many more smaller ones. Once you have been thru earthquakes you never quite forget the feeling of the ground moving about below your feet. But I was glad they were all safe too.
Then, Saturday, Hurricane Irene comes roaring up the entire east coast. She storms ashore in the outer banks of North Carolina, pounds the Jersey coast, then Sunday she heads inland over New York City, Connecticut, and...............dumps her fury on VERMONT! Vermont ends up as the top news story on the Today Show this morning. At 7:01am my daughter called to be sure we were okay, saying she never thought the storm would reach way up here. It was a tropical storm by the time it did, but the rain and the wind were never ending. The worst damage is down in the southern part near Brattleboro and Rutland, although there are thousands without power and flooded. There is footage of a covered bridge being washed away. I did have to work yesterday, but I closed up the store about 4:30 and drove home in the wind and torrential rain. It was crazy. We didn't have any damage around the house, just a few leaks, and small branches down, but there was one huge tree down across the highway on my way home yesterday.

A damaged historic covered bridge spans Cox Brook in Northfield, Vt., Monday, Aug. 29, 2011.

I should have sent my daughter a text: If you're worried about me, im fine!

Add-on to Last Post

My last post was about my brother-in-law.

My add-on is about my friend, Mickey, who I worked with when we first moved up here 5 and a half years ago. I got a job working at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, Vermont. It was a fun place to work, helping visitors pick out their bears, giving tours of the factory, and stuffing and sewing up bears the people could make themselves (the original "Build a Bear" theme was started there.) Mickey and I worked together most days in the retail shop, she and I being the "older" ones in a group of mostly much younger adults. She was my saving grace on many days, and it was great fun getting to know this warm and caring Vermonter who was born (almost exactly 10 years before me) and raised up in St. Albans. She told me about places to visit, best restaurants to eat at and bits and pieces about local sites, including the premier cree-mee stand where they had over 100 flavors! It's still our one and only place to go for cree-mees during the summer, and to take visitors to. After we moved up to Swanton, the commute to the Teddy Bear Factory was too long, and I quit shortly after. But Mickey and I still remained friends, meeting for lunch once in a rare while, or she would stop by wherever I was working, we exchanged Christmas cards, and I would ask about her whenever I went to the post office, where her niece worked. I few weeks ago her niece stopped into my store, and I was able to talk to Mickey's sister, and learned that her health was failing. Mickey had fought breast cancer twice, but her pain now was in her back, and they were trying to figure out what was going on...

A week ago Saturday, another person we worked with at the Teddy Bear Factory came into my store, and I was excited to see her, but one look told me what I feared. Mickey had passed away, also on July 15th, the same day as my brother-in-law. Her pain was from cancer that they found in her spinal cord, and it took her quickly. I still look for her smiling face on quiet afternoons when I'm working, or think of her when I see the Vermont Teddy Bear I have in our guest room. I shall miss her, my friend. It's been a tough month...

The Distant Bonds

This Post is not about being a grandparent, or parent. It is about the distance that separates us.


Yesterday my youngest sister, who lives in Phoenix, lost the love of her life when he lost his fight with leukemia. In just a little over 4 months this man waged his war on heart disease, diabetes, valley fever, and chemotherapy which left his kidneys damaged enough to also require kidney dialysis. The leukemia entered his liver, causing that organ to begin failing. Then this week, because of his weakened immune system, sepsis set into his blood, causing an infection throughout his entire body. By Wednesday the battle was over, he had called his truce, he was ready. He had two days of calm and comfort, rest and assurance. With my sister at his side, he slipped to the heavens in the early morning hours of Friday, July 15th. The mark he made on everyone's life is remarkable, the responses truly endearing. He was a lover of life, golf, food, passionate about his work, and a friend to all. The world is better for his being here for 62 years, worse for his leaving us way too early.


The distance has been with my sister in Phoenix, my sisters in California and New Hampshire, and my daughters in Maryland and Dallas. The distance that separates us. The phone calls and the texts, the individual ways we have shed tears and reached out to one another. But our thoughts, our prayers, our wishes, and yes, our tears also unite us. We have a bond that brings us together no matter how many miles separate us. This has touched us each in different ways, in different degrees, in our own different memories. But those memories also link us as they overlap times spent with him and with each other. I can not be there as my daughter begins her run this morning in his honor, I can't help my daughter who tried to fly out to Phoenix yesterday to be with her Aunt, and I can't offer my shoulder to my sister who is facing yet another loss of someone she loves deeply. But I know that we are there with each other, we are sharing each others' pain, and we are reaching and touching and connecting, because we are loved. Watch over us Dave, our bonds are strengthened in your loss, we shall forever miss you, but our memories of you bring us joy.

Echos of Memories

The grandchildren have gone, the house is quiet, the toys are put away until the next visit, and the bed sheets have been washed and refolded. I wonder how my own mom felt in the days after we had come and gone when my own girls were little. Its easy to feel sad, and a little hesitant to resume normal life again. I know my little 2 year old granddaughter has cried for me several times since leaving. The first time was right after they got thru security and to their gate, when she realized I wasn't coming with them. I guess she was calling me about as loud as she possibly could for about 5 minutes. And she has asked several times to get back on an airplane and come back to Mimi's house. The bonds are there, and that is good, but it hurts knowing I can't just be there whenever I want to. Maybe though, maybe if I did live right down the street from them like we did before, maybe there wouldn't be this longing. Eventually she will begin to remember special trips up here, and her memories will begin to form favorite things we did, or will do again. I, too, feel some of her misery. I think of her when I take the dogs out for their walk because when she was here she "tinkled" three times outside, "like the doggies do.". Or when I walk past the baby strawberries she picked, or when I sit out in the sunroom where we spent so much time playing, even at night when I hear the barred owl calling "who, who, whoooo."  It was a good visit, and yes, its hard to say goodbye, but there are always the memories...

     Playing ball.

                                                               Standing with Mishka

                                                               At the playground

Early to Bed...

Its 9:28pm on a warm, breezy evening, and the house is as quiet as a mouse. Everyone has gone to bed. The dogs are sleeping out on the cool patio, my husband went up to bed about half an hour ago (he has one of those lousy, summer head colds) and my daughter and two granddaughters who have been here for 5 days now all go to bed about 8 o'clock. The two little ones wouldn't last much longer, both of them still wake up several times during the night, or in the early morning hours. And its just easier for my daughter to go to bed with them, although she lays up there and reads until she falls asleep. So, its either the computer, or the tv.

It has been a great week, although tiring! The two little girls are 2 1/2 and 7 months old, so it is quite a challenge keeping track of both of them, keeping both fed, cleaned, and satisfied, and entertaining them, especially the 2 year old. She plays wonderfully, but, typically, has the whiney times when she fights for some independence. We have kept fairly busy with breakfasts out, walks, playing with toys and a tent, eating, going swimming at the neighbors' pool, going to the playground, today we went to them mall. The days seem like they will be long, but then before we know it, its time for dinner, baths and books and bed. Their last full day is tomorrow, then we'll drive them back to the airport in Manchester, NH so they can
catch their Southwest flight non-stop back to Baltimore. Two best things so far: having my granddaughter run to me with a big hug and kiss at the airport (yes, there were tears in my eyes), and two days later saying "I love Mimi's house, Mommy!" Today, while we were walking the dogs, I thought she said "You're my best friend", but no, she was saying the dogs were her best friends! The weather has been just about a little bit of everything, but yesterday was a perfect 82 degrees, and today has been breezy, but nice outside. I will post a picture as soon as I get them downloaded to my computer.

Babbling Brook Mystery Solved (and repaired!)

It has been a long week, meaning last week that ended yesterday. On Wednesday we woke up to no water, and when my husband went down into the basement to check things out, he found our water booster pumps overheating and smoking. These pumps add pressure so we can actually have force in the water upstairs to enable us to take showers.  He shut the pumps down, and with just a bare trickle in the upstairs bathrooms, we opted to use the lower level shower until we could have things checked out. The next day our water guy shows up, and within minutes he realized the problem was with that little spring of water which had been flowing for nearly two months. His conclusion: the water was actually coming from a break in the pipe going from our well to the house, which means our well was supplying all of that water that has been running constantly down the driveway! The prognosis did not look good. We could have to dig up half of the yard, including the area where we thought the pipe might go under the driveway, to find the source of the leak. We called two neighbors to ask for advice on who they would recommend, left a message for one, then spoke to the second, who suggested his cousin who was an excavator. Within an hour we had set up a meeting for the next morning, the second neighbor stopped by to check things out and offer assistance, and the other neighbor followed shortly behind to see what he could do. Its amazing what these people do to help one another, and how grateful we are for knowing them. They are an unending source of information and support. We are so very lucky. The next day the crew arrives, the hole is found rather easily and repaired quickly, the dirt is replaced, and we have our water back and running. The booster pumps still need some kind of tweaking, but the pressure is strong enough to enable showers upstairs, and things looked solved. I had been up Friday morning at 3:30am to get to work by 5:15am for our semi-annual store inventory, I was tired and exhausted by the time I got home that afternoon, but we picked up a bottle of wine to take to the neighbors' to thank them for their help. That turned into hanging over there for 3 hours, eating crackers and cheese, then steaks on the grill, and having the best time, and a most special end to a rather challenging week. Okay, the week didn't really completely end on such a high note. Last night, Saturday, still this same week, I went to do the dishes after supper, and SURPRISE! NO HOT WATER! I guess this will be chapter 2-to be continued this week...

Long, long days of June

It is after 9pm, and the sky is still light behind the silhouette of the trees. In another 3 weeks we will have the longest day of the year. Up here, if it is clear that week, it won't get completely dark until nearly 10pm. And then the days will start getting shorter. My son-in-law, who is from Honduras, couldn't comprehend this concept at all because down there, a day in December is just as hot and has just as many hours of daylight as a day in June. I like the long days, even if it means that the sky begins to get light shortly after 4 am. I really like the short days when I can come home at 5pm and put my pajamas on because it feels like it is almost time for bed right after dinner.

The rains have let up, for now. We have had the snowiest winter on record, with 128.4 inches. And the rainiest spring with 24.78 inches so far for the year. And that is compared to 12.63 inches normal for the whole year. Talk about green EVERYWHERE! Our little babbling brook still continues to flow several gallons per hour, and everyone who sees it says they have never seen anything like it.

Yesterday was nice. After 3 days of very warm, humid weather, it cooled off dramatically, with lows into the 40's and the high of only about 68. It was perfect for heading up to the local nursery and buying some flowers to plant in our large barrels. And while looking for the best flowers to plant, I came across some called "Elfin Mix Impatiens" and just had to buy them to plant near my Elf door that my brother-in-law made a few years ago. Here is what is now looks like:

There are 6 impatiens plants in the mulch. I love this area because I can see it from the kitchen window when I am doing the dishes or cooking. Hopefully the little garden takes, and the flowers spread. Maybe the elves will help with the weeding!

My youngest daughter and her two little girls will be here in just over 2 weeks. We are looking forward to some special time with our granddaughters who are almost 7 months and almost 2 1/2 years old. It should be fun having them all here for a few days. I hope the weather is fairly good, and the bugs aren't too bad. I have a multitude of tiny no-see-um bites that are very itchy right now. The little buggers should hopefully have died off for the year before they get here. Of course, about the time they are gone, the pesty deer flies start dive bombing us as we walk the dogs, and right behind them will be the swarms of blood-thirsty mosquitoes. Ahhhh, summer life in the country!

Blue Skies and Warmer Days

It's been awhile, so, time to do some writing. We have had some very rainy, wet weather this spring, resulting in lots of flooding all over Vermont. Especially along the coastline of Lake Champlain down in Burlington, and up here in St. Albans Bay. We have even sprouted our own small stream on our land that begin showing up last week, and has been running strong since last Saturday. It seems to be bubbling out of the ground, pools around a bunch of trees, then spills out onto and down our driveway and into the woods. It's very crazy, but rather interesting too. We are estimating several gallons an hour continue to flow out. Here is a picture I took on Sunday:

Notice the pool of water, and where it is running down the driveway. It continues on down the hill.

We have finally had a break from all of the rain, and it has been sunny and warmer since Sunday. What a great break, even if I have been working. Speaking of working and water running-last week while I was working in my maternity store, a young woman was in exchanging some items, and returned to use the restroom in our store. Not a noteworthy story, except she thought her water had broken, which it had, and I spent a short while trying to calm her down, and sent her on her way with a new pair of pants and a roll of paper towel. She came back on Tuesday to thank me for my help, and introduce me to her new little girl, Genevieve.

And, speaking of little girls, I have been busy sewing during all of our chilly, rainy weather, and here is a picture of the quilt I made for my 6 month old granddaughter:

I thought it really turned out cute. I also made a pillow to match it, as you can see in the photo. I appliqued owls on it because that's what my daughter said she wanted on it, and I couldn't find any kind of fabric with owls on it. It was fun doing. Now I am finishing up a pillow for my other granddaughter so she will have something in the box also. Then I will send them on their way and hope they both like them. We are trying to figure out a time for the three of them to come up here, maybe next week, or more likely, in June. But I know I won't be able to wait for them to get it, so I'll mail it out soon.

May is already a third over, as always passing way too fast. Hopefully more things will happen so I will have more to write about in the next few weeks.

Pond Thaw

This is significant. It is April 9th, nearly the 10th since it's after 8pm. On my way home tonight after work I can finally say our pond is finally free of ice. I think maybe there was one small spot left, but it may have just been leaves or the reflection. Last year the pond was thawed by the middle of March, which shows just how much colder this winter has been. They were boiling at the sugar house when I passed it too, and I'm pretty sure they collected for the last time. Bucket washing will probably be next weekend, but I do have to work bot Saturday and Sunday. The temperatures have climbed into the 60's today and tomorrow, and maybe 70 on Monday, and today was mostly sunny, but we do have some rain in the forecast. It does feel like Spring is coming now.

My daughter and son-in-law and two granddaughters left for their yearly 2 weeks in Cabo San Lucas. I hope they survivied the plane ride and are happily enjoying the sun and warmth. They have time share there and return every April to the place they actually got married three years ago. It was a beautiful wedding, just like the one up here in Middlebury last year. Its exciting seeing them start their lives just like we started ours so many years ago. They have everything ahead of them.

Is it really April?

Mother Nature delt most of the New England area an April Fool's joke with a big nor'easter snowstorm that dumped close to a foot of snow in some locations. I woke up yesterday morning expecting vivid white everywhere, but all that was out there was the snow that still hasn't melted from our unusually long winter. There wasn't a flake or a flurry anywhere, despite the warning that snow would develop shortle after midnight. My drive to work was effortless, I only encountered a bit of rain/snow mixture my last few miles, and certainly nothing that was causing more than wet roads. Last night, as the temperatures dropped to freezing, the snow did begin sticking to the trees and open grass a bit, and now, this morning, there is still a light dusting that will disappear quickly as the sun rises higher in the sky. Hard to believe its even April. We did warm up into the 50's on Thursday, but we need lots of days with high temperatures to warm up the ground. On the plus side, the sap is still running like crazy. Even with the warmer temperatures, many of the maple trees are still sitting in a foot or more of snow, so who knows when they will decide to bud and stop producing sap. This time last year, the sugar season was already over.

Nevertheless, we know Spring will somehow arrive here in the next few weeks. The maternity store that I work in will be going thru some major changes in the next month. Maybe once it warms up we will start to see more sales of Spring and Summer clothes. I think that is what is hurting our sales right now. And then, I will be starting with nearly a completely new staff by May. In some ways I am anxious to put together my own team that might just manage to somehow work together. I want to put so much blame on my assistant manager, but I guess I also need to look at myself and see where I really need to improve. The turnover here is crazy, that really needs to get under control. I can't put my finger on exactly what is causing it, and what would improve it. I am off for the next few days, maybe giving myself a chance to get things together, and go back next Thursday ready to face what's ahead of me.

Mild days, warm sun, melting ponds, leaves, flowers, and a new staff of team members. Its all in the forecast!

Maple Sugar Time

The sap is running! I went out to help collect this afternoon, and the weather was perfect. It had rained earlier in the day, but by noon most of it had quit, and by 3 o'clock the tractor came crawling down the driveway, and it was time to gather the sap in buckets and bring it back to the sugar house to be boiled into maple syrup. The snow was so deep it was difficult to reach some of the buckets, then turn around with a full pail of sap to bring to the tractor. But everyone was in good spirits and it felt wonderful to be out in the thawing warmth. Its 10pm now and I can still see the steam rising across the meadow. Maple time is such fun. The sap might run all night, and tomorrow they'll make the same run once or twice and boil down the sap all day. It would be a great time to make sugar on snow. I can hardly wait, except I have to work tomorrow and Sunday. I'll probably stop by the sugar house on my way home. I can smell the sweet maple scent already!

Here is a sap bucket on our huge maple tree!

SNOW!

The snow piling up on our deck yesterday.

The first forecast was for a few inches of snow. By the time it was over, we had about 26" in about 30 hours. Everything was closed yesterday; the mall I work in, schools, colleges, businesses. Thank goodness it was all closed. The neighbors who normally plow our driveway were out in Seattle, but about 9am, here comes a different neighbor in his big John Deere tractor, moving snow to clear the way. Behind him comes another neighbor in a smaller John Deere to help, then another more distant friend in his truck and plow. So, by noon we were pretty much cleared out, and Big John came over once more in the afternoon. This morning I didn't have any trouble driving down to Burlington. There was still a little sluch on Williston Road, but otherwise all the roads were cleared down to the pavement.

Birthdays

My Birthday was yesterday. It was no big deal, as birthdays seem to be once you get past the age of say, 21. Its hard to remember birthdays from year to year since I normally don't do anything noteworthy. Maybe that should be something I should think about doing, planning something unique on my birthday so I can actually remember it. My fault really. All I did was do my normal, Thursday day off stuff like grocery shopping, an errand here and there, got my car washed. That was noteworthy because it was soooo filthy from all the salt muck on the roads, and here in Vermont, you just don't go thru a car wash when the temperature is 8 degrees, or your locks and doors and trunk will freeze shut and you will either not be able to get into your car, or possibly even, not be able to get out of your car! So it felt really good to have a clean car especially since I don't work for 3 more days which means it will stay nice and salt free in the garage until then.

Next year I will try to think of some way to celebrate it for just me, something I can remember, something that will mean more to me when I end the day and look back on it before I go to sleep.  

Here is a picture of my granddaughter after she blew out the candle on her second birthday cake.

Warmer Days

There was a touch of spring in the air today. We drove down to Burlington for a vet appointment with one of our dogs, and actually saw a car with its convertible top down! Now that is quite crazy because it was only about 45 degrees out, and roaring down the highway at 65 miles per hour meant that his wind chill was about, maybe 20 degrees. Cold enough to freeze his drippy nose. But it felt nice out, and it was also sunny, which made it seem even warmer, even though there are still heaping mounds of snow everywhere. Here is a photo of our two dogs in front of a snowpile by our house last week.

Kuma and Mishka in the snow!

They love it in the snow, but after their walk this afternoon they were so muddy. But it will freeze again, and then there will be ice everywhere. Here is another picture from last week.

This is Mishka going up the driveway.

It was a bright, but cold day, but the sky was so blue. It can be so beautiful around here, even if it is 11 degrees and there is snow everywhere. Soon it will warm up on a regular basis, and then it will be time to tap the maple trees and start to collect the sap to boil it down for maple syrup. We should tap next week sometime if it seems like it will warm up enough. The sap normally runs for most of March, and by the end of sugar season, the snow is gone, the trees are starting to bud, the peeper frogs are out, and the sap will stop running. I can smell the sap boiling in the sugar house already. Its a great time of year!



White-Out Driving

I decided, on my way home from work tonight, that I really prefer not to die in a horrendous car accident on a snow packed interstate. I don't want it to be because of something stupid that I do, or because of something that a crazy driver does because he needs to pass me when you could barely see past the front of your car, and sure can't make out even a single lane of the road you're driving on. Tonight's drive home was pretty awful, probably my worst drive home since I began commuting to Burlington nearly 2 years ago. And my thoughts about not wanting to die in a car accident was because my 2 hour drive home 4 days ago was because a woman who lived in a neighboring town was killed driving into Burlington, and worse yet-she was wearing her seat belt. I know this isn't the most up-lifting post to make, but it is a fact of life living in Vermont, that you will most likely have to make several questionable drives each winter, deciding which driving habits will get you safely to your destination. Mine tonight was to follow the car ahead of me who was going about 35 miles an hour, which felt just about right to me. That is until he decided 20 to 25 mph was a better choice, at which point I made the decision to pass him and venture into the great white void on my own. If it wasn't for the banks of snow on either side of the interstate, I wouldn't have known for sure that I was even of the road. But I made it home all in one piece, thankful for another safe journey, and glad that the snow should end about 7am, about 2 hours before I need to drive back down to Burlington to open the store for the day. I will end this now because we are in the middle of a bunch of lightening and thunder, and the 3-6" of snow has just been adjusted to 9-12", with periods of rain, freezing rain and sleet mixed in. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a power outage...

Starting Over

I started this Blog last year thinking I would create this wonderful site filled with all kinds of thoughts about my life and where it has taken me and what it means to be at the point I am now. But it never really went anywhere, and looking back at it today, I flushed it down with the DELETE button and thought I would try again.

So...I will start over, and see if it can take a more enticing direction.

I have lived in Vermont for just over 5 years now. And I should mention that's "Northern" Vermont, because we are only 11 miles from the border of Canada. I will never be a true Vermonter because I wasn't born here to a generation of people who had lived here since the middle ages, or something like that. But that doesn't bother me because I have moved constantly my whole life, and always managed to make just about anywhere I was my home. This feels pretty permanent right now, and I am rather certain only a few things would prevent me from being here for nearly forever. I really like it here, and should probably say I really love it here. I could go on and on about the beautiful blue skies, small towns, great people, breathtaking scenery, and on and on and on. But I think anyone who loves where they're living could do the same thing. Maybe you could even do it if you didn't really love where you're living. But this works for us, and that is all that counts.

We had a major snowstorm yesterday. That big, monster storm that covered the US from Texas to Maine. We got about 16" of snow, but this is Vermont, so nothing about our part of the storm made any national news. We didn't have any building collapses that I heard of, no horrendous car accidents or 60mph winds. It was just a really snowy day. I work at a mall that is 35 miles from my house, and I should have worked the afternoon/closing shift yesterday, but they closed the whole mall for the entire day. It never even opened, except for IHOP, Kohls and the nearby grocery store. I got up at 6:30am, and calling the mall office at 7am was like finding out we had a snow day from school when I was in high school. I say high school, because snow days then were so much more appreciated than in elementary school. I told my daughter (who lives in Texas) that my mall was closed and she was surprised, thinking that Vermont can handle anything, especially a mere foot of snow. We can, but we also know when to sit back, wait, and let nature run her course first. Maybe that's why things seem to get back up and running so much faster here, why it feels like they can handle it so well. While in Texas, despite the threat of a ticket if you slid off the ice covered roads and the police responded to it, my daughter was told she had to report into her office. And, the evening news featured several cars on Dallas roads sliding right off the pavement!

Snow falling around our house.

So, what did I do with my snow day? What nearly every other woman did who found herself with an unexpected day at home did-I baked cookies. And spent time outside shoveling and walking the dogs, and sat by the fireplace reading and drinking tea. It was a nice day. Today I had my regular day off from work, so I did my regular day off stuff, then tomorrow its back to work for the next 6 days. And yes, we have snow in the forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But its February, and this is Vermont.