Monday, March 10, 2008

A Really Good Weekend

Does it get any better than waking up in your own home on a Saturday morning with almost a foot of snow on the ground? It snowed most of the day on Friday with a long enough break for all workers to get home before the heavy snowfall started. I am always happy on a Friday night. Even after the best work week it is a relief to start a weekend. I didn't make any extra preparations for snow. I knew I had enough food and no commitments that couldn't be changed if needed. I went to bed on Friday night and slept deeply as the snow fell outside my window. Supposedly there was snow thunder and lightening but I must have slept right through it. Normal snowfall is silent and one of it's gift, besides beauty, is that it brings deep silence wherever it falls. I woke up on Saturday feeling like I slept for a thousand years. I quickly got dressed, went downstairs, and looked out my front door. It was the biggest snowfall this area had in about ten years. It felt like Christmas morning. For the rest of the morning I sat around in warm clothes and drank hot coffee while reading a book....very old fashioned in these times....while listening to music. Occasionally I would stand and simply stare out the window. Natural beauty puts me in a trance. It was a wonderful day.

About midday my wife and son and I decided it was time to go outside and shovel the walkway, make a path to the cars, and clean them off. It was actually kind of fun. It felt good to do some manual labor. It was a bright sunny day. Some of my neighbors were also outside shoveling and others were walking their dogs. I did do one stupid thing over the weekend. While cleaning the cars I decided to start them up so the defrosters would help accelerate cleaning them off. About three or four hours later I looked out my window and wondered "Why are Nick's car lights on"? I put my shoes on and went outside to check it out. Well, there was Nick's car quieting running. It had been running in the driveway for four hours! I guess it was a good thing no car thieves were in the neighborhood. After wrecking my other car two weeks ago, reporting a stolen car would have put my insurance agent over the edge. My senior moments continue to increase with alarming frequency.

I did get out of my house and neighborhood on Saturday night. My wife, son, and I met Chloe and her parents at a local restaurant for a birthday celebration. Since I am a lover of books, I was very pleased that two of my gifts were books. I received the new Tom Brokaw book called "Boom! Voices of the Sixties" and another book recommended to my wife by a friend of mind called "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life...Living the Wisdom of the Tao" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. The book is basically a new and modern interpretation of the Tao Te Ching by the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu. On a slightly lighter note....I also received a DVD of a recent Moody Blues concert at the Greek Theater out in LA. I can't believe I will be 57 years old in 16 days! Where have the years gone! By Sunday evening a great deal of the sun had already melted. With temperatures in the 50's much of this week, the snow cannot last much longer. It was a wonderful spring snow and I am grateful that it happened. Spring is less than two weeks away and soon enough we'll all be complaining about the heat.

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