At night again the winds howled, and the temperatures fell, and the sheets of rain turned into clouds of snow. It was too much, even for Wisconsin schools that are used to snow on the ground. Our district and probably most every other district proclaimed it to be a snow day.
Remember when schools were shuttered and learning was remote only and we said there would never again be snow days?
It feels so beautifully normal that tears well up in my eyes. Kids waking up to no school is once again a delight rather than something pernicious and horrible.
I wake up to yet something else that is significant, charting a new course for me, even as it isn't about me at all.
Juniper, my youngest grandchild, is one year old today. (Photo credit: her mom)
I no longer have babies in my family!
If all goes well (that is if no one else falls ill with a virus!), I'll be going down to Chicago tomorrow for a weekend with the birthday girl. Birthday celebrations are on hold until we all gather. It is the tradition that for a grandchild's first, grandparents come from far and wide to party with the child. But today is her day nonetheless: this girl that has partying or at least dancing in her genes! I swear! I watched a video clip of her dancing at her school holiday celebration yesterday. She rocks to the music like no other one year old I ever saw!
Ah, Juniper! You have a sister and three cousins who may lead in age, but you are your own person, both strong willed and playful and charming and oh so very musical! Happy birthday to you!
Meanwhile, back at the farmette, the trees are bending under the weight of the snow. Indeed, we have a few split trunks and fallen limbs. The snow is THAT heavy.
I shovel out our walkway, Ed blows out the driveway and barn path.
Breakfast? Croissants never tasted so good!
In the late morning I talk to my sister who is, of course, in Poland. And this reminds me of the fact that December 15th has another (pseudo) significance: it is the Name Day for my first name. Now, in Poland, Name Days are very important, arguably more so than birthdays. My name was unique in that it had no biblical character or saint associated with it and thus -- no Name Day attached to it either for all the years that I was growing up. Until suddenly it did. Recently, unique and unsaintly names (like Nina) were assigned dates, based on who knows what. December 15th is Nina Day. (My sister tells me there is a St. Nino -- she's the patron saint of Georgia. Born in Capadoccia, where Ed was bitten by a wild dog. With a mom named Susanna. And with healing powers you wouldn't believe! Just ask the Queen Nana, cured by Nina. Where ye shall search, ye shall find.)
Trust me, I am not now, in my 69th year, itching to celebrate my newly discovered Name Day. It feels as farfetched to me as National Cocoa Day. Did you know that December 13th was National Cocoa Day? Bob's Red Mill Flour Company sent me an email saying so. I did not celebrate it.
In the afternoon, Ed goes off to fulfill his legal obligation to serve on a jury. He is of two minds about this: heavily weighing on him is the knowledge that he'll be in a crowd of people during the peak of the flu/Covid/RSV/every-other-virus-under-the-sun surge, just as he himself is coming off of a very long lasting respiratory bug. On the other hand, we both believe in a functional legal system and juries are an integral part of that, so he is primed to do his bit. If I don't fall asleep -- he tells me. After pushing snow around outside, he is likely to be very very dozy and I know this guy well: he can sleep anytime and anywhere, even in a jury box.
Because it is a snow day, I do not pick up Snowdrop at school, but I do pick her up at home...
... for some quiet play at the farmhouse.
But first, a detour to Madison Chocolate Company. I need to pick up a gift. She is inthralled with the possibilities!
But happy to be at the farmhouse immediately after. She'd already had some outdoor playtime today. She is ready to settle into her routines here.
Hey, Ed's back from jury duty! Her wilder side kicks in when he's around...
Can you have a busy and full day and still feel it to be serenely calm? Yes you can.
Good night birthday girl Juniper, good night sweet ones everywhere.
With so much love...
