The Po Show

Snow

After months of bitching that we hadn't gotten any real snow this winter, after jealousy over the snowstorms of others, after ranting that it was cold as hell (isn't that a funny expression?), but when we actually got precipitation it always turned to rain, after complaining that they got more snow in southern CA than we did here, we got some real snow on Friday. It was that lovely fluffy snow that covers everything so magically, and turns the world into a winter wonderland (as opposed to a grey, depressing, seemingly endless monotony of cold). Tessa and I played in the snow for a long time, in the morning and again in the afternoon, while Matthew stayed inside and didn't want to come out (still the CA boy who despises to be cold). We made snowbunnies (a daddy, a mommy, and a baby snowbunny), with adorable little pine needle whiskers.

We went sledding on Saturday, which was really fun. It started out a little rough when Tessa kept hitting ice patches and tumbling off her sled and hitting various body parts on the ice. But then we moved from the big, slightly scary hill and over to a much smaller hill that hadn't been beaten down by previous sledders, and things went swimmingly. Matthew got too cold after about half an hour of sledding, but at least he had fun during that time. After all her complaining, Tessa complained even more bitterly as we were leaving and she wanted to come back after lunch.

We got home and she wanted to keep playing, so I stayed outside with her as Ross and Matthew went in. It started to snow shower again, and she sat in the snow and made snowballs. Man, she is so funny. She sat there and outlined this incredibly intricate set of rules for the snowball fight we were about to have, with extensive details about the "moves" we could make while throwing the snowballs, the shape and size of the snowballs we could use and the particular instances in which each could be thrown, rules for shielding oneself, including suspension of shielding and time limits and factors under which shielding could be done. Aren't kids just supposed to chuck snowballs?

I held out my hands and watched the tiny, brilliantly white flecks of snow settle on my black gloves. I watched the feathery flakes fall from the sky, and I marveled that we actually live in a place where it snows. After four years, I still can't get over it. How can be possibly live in a place where frozen water falls from the SKY?

Four years, and we're still just visiting, in my mind, as transient as the snow. But for Tessa, this is home, the only home she can remember. She's a true snowbunny.