A Homey Blizzard...

I grew up south of Buffalo.  OMG BUFFALO! People say! SO much SNOW!!

Well, the honest truth about the city of Buffalo is that it is generally sunny, fairly windy, and not too snowy. (Think about it.  If it got 10 feet of snow at a time ALL the time, would it make the news when it did?  I mean, who ever reports on a snowstorm in Syracuse?? In 'Cuse, a snowstorm is just SSDD, right? In Buffalo, it's an Event.) In fact, if you listen to weather reports in the area, you generally hear things like, "In the city we expect 2 - 4 inches of snow overnight. But in squall areas south of the city we can expect up to 18 inches."

"Squall areas."  "The Snow Belt south of the toll booths."  "South of Rich Stadium."

Call it what you will.  It was my Dad's driveway.

It wasn't at all unusual for us to get 6, 8, 10 inches and go to school in the morning with the snow still coming down. We used to speculate the the superintendant of schools had a bright sun and blue sky painted on the inside of his window shades.  When the snowfall got above a foot, there was one area where the buses just couldn't get to, so those few kids down in the valley simply didn't make it to school.  It had to approach nearly 18 inches in one snowfall to make them close the schools. Snow commonly started in October. We were frequently ice skating on ponds at the end of November.

Our town was Prepared. They started running plows when the first flakes flew.  Our town had SIDEWALK PLOWS.  Seriously. Sidewalk plows.  I miss those babies. Especially today.

We've had 30 inches of snow since midnight.  They cancelled school preemptively.  I've shoveled the sidewalk three times and my FitBit says I've done 15,000 steps even though the dogs only got walked a mile. I've helped dig out about 8 cars.

I'm sitting here with hot tea, getting ready to assemble some goulash and put a pumpkin custard in the oven. I'm supremely grateful for a large number of things:

Central heat.
A gas stove.
Neighbors who help you dig your car out (and who get excited when they get paid in organic Farmer's Market beer).
Neighbors who can't dig themselves out, and the strength in my own arms to help.
Fleece blankets.
Warm socks.
Snuggly dogs.
Well-stocked cupboards.
Candles.
Childhood memories.
Memories of my children's childhoods.

No matter what our day-to-day struggles, having that odd event that makes us completely switch up our lives and schedules can trigger gratitude and reset our hearts back to a quieter, more elemental time.  Snow.  The smell, the beauty, the challenge.

DeeDee