Friday

The day always seems weird when there are no kids in its schedule. More like a weekend than a weekday. It throws you off!

Today there were no kids here, nor did I see them elsewhere. Schools closed yet again for snow. You would think we have had a winter of mountainous pileups of snow, but no! Honestly, it's been a modest year for the white stuff. Not totally dry, but certainly no great heaps of it either. But, when snow falls at night, or when it's mixed with ice, the schools have no choice but to shut down to minimize morning commuting issues. At the same time, of course, parents must scramble to come up with childcare at the last minute, because work places rarely shut down.

You may think I'm on board with childcare help during a snow crisis! In fact, we tried to imagine how I could fit in some child-sitting, given various constraints in the schedule -- theirs and mine. In the end it proved to be too complicated, so I stayed to the side, promising to be on call if emergencies arose. But none did and the kids trudged from one parent's place, to various appointments and meetings along with them, and in the end I saw none of them.

So what was the day like? Well, very pretty, that's for sure! 

(looking out the front window)

The snow was wet and heavy, but it did dump somewhere between 8 and 10 inches of the stuff on farmette lands.

Enough to keep the chickens in the barn (except for one who insisted on trudging to the garage to lay her egg and then got stuck there)...

Enough to keep the cats in their various indoor spaces, except when absolutely forced to go out.

Ed and I both remarked how absolutely cozy it felt inside! Breakfast? Oatmeal of course!

And now here's a surprise: we both decided that we are fit enough to go skiing, despite our various knee issues. I'd already put the skis away for the season. Up they come now, into the car. 

We drive to our local park and pause on the way to admire the return of the cranes. I dont think they mind spring snow. They certainly know to expect it in March.

Ed's knee issues, unlike mine, are the result of an injury (so he tells me) and thus he is a little more timid in skiing today, but still, we do our loop and it is gorgeous!

Afterwards? Well, there was this snafu which I have to take the blame for: I'd been reading Wash Post's analysis of who should consider getting a second Covid bivalent booster. Ed and I are probably included in that list. However, just because some experts have opined that this should happen, doesn't mean that it can happen. And so, even though I had signed us up for it, the pharmacy in the end decided its hands were tied, because the CDC hadn't yet issued guidelines allowing for this to go forward. Thanks, CDC.

I know it's not a huge deal -- the CDC is much more concerned right now with the fact that most Americans have yet to get their first bivalent booster. Nonetheless, us compliant types should not be ignored, especially since the world is now unmasked and moving around whether or not they are sick. (I was, for example, surprised to hear that my former colleague, with whom I had dinner this week, had traveled back from a trip to the Middle East while she had Covid. She said testing was no longer required, so she felt free to return. On a long, overseas flight home. Okay...)

Ah well. We've stayed away from the virus thus far! We will continue with our usual moderate level of precautions.

Much of the rest of our afternoon is spent on reading, researching, and watching the snow melt outside. We're to get some more -- a less copious amount of it -- but of course, this is typical for March: snow, sunshine, rain, and then the cycle repeats itself until it runs out of steam, sometime toward the end of April!

Tomorrow is the last day of dark dinner hours. Daylight Savings time, here we come! Now do you agree that we are on the heels of spring?!