Friday, February 1, 2008

snow day

Last night I went to the symphony. Before hand as I ate dinner with a friend her mom called and asked how she was faring in the blizzard. We looked outside and thought blizzard? There's hardly an inch out there... It had been snowing on and off all day and the roads weren't great, so the friend I was supposed to go with couldn't make it into the city, but another friend who works downtown was able to join me. The show was lovely. On leaving the hall we braced ourselves for a trek into the fore-told blizzard, and though it was still snowing and very windy, I wouldn't exactly call it a 'blizzard'. You could see more then 5 feet in front of you.
It's amazing how quiet the world becomes when it snows. Walking the few blocks from the el to my apartment the world was blanketed in a fresh coat of white. The streets were un-plowed with very few cars on them, the side walks un-shoveled. I had a flash back to my child hood, leaving my mark on the pure ground, looking at it in amazement and joy under the moonlight after a fresh snow. And although there is no moon light in the city, no rolling hills and forests coated in white, and I am no longer 8 years old, bundled up, slipping out into a silent night, that walk home was magical.
Waking up this morning to the radio announcing that almost all Illinois schools were on snow day, I wondered if I really had to go to work. If the kids are home, shouldn't I be too? I guess the adult world doesn't work that way. Tromping my way through 10 inches of un-shoveled sidewalk snow, I wished I was 8 again so I could own that magical world for another day.

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