Snow Is a 4-Letter Word ~ But It's Pretty

Ariana and I got an early start with our grocery shopping. It had not started snowing yet, and I wanted to get the fixings for Carol's birthday dinner on Monday before the snow-panic crowds hit the supermarket.

After that, I dropped Ariana off at Leonard's Cutters while I went to the bank to deposit a couple of small checks.

Then I poked my nose in Leonard's Cutters to share with Leonard a couple of naughty jokes, have a cup of coffee, eat some Christmas treats, chit-chat with the salon staff, and read the piggy confessions from the "Slut Book," AKA "Cosmopolitan Magazine."

After that we stopped at Denise's to pick up a large sack of dog food.

As we were leaving Denise's, I had Ariana call 'Miah to see if he wanted us to pick him up. The bugger was still asleep, that late in the day. He was too cranky to give Ariana a straight answer.

So I called him shortly afterwards. And while 'Miah was still cranky, I was able to get a straight answer.

Thus, we continued to his house, to wait for him there while he took his shower, got dressed, and packed an overnight duffel.

By then it was 1:00 PM. We were hungry and decided to go to Chili's to grab some lunch. (They have ribs there, and I am always a sucker for ribs.)

It still hadn't started to snow when we got there and started digging into our appetizers and drinks (cheap Margaritas!).

It was 1:30 PM, and the predicted snow still hadn't come. At the same time, Barbara called on Ariana's cell phone, and Ariana gave the phone to 'Miah to answer.

Barbara had already left her work in Providence because it had already started snowing in Providence.

In about another 15 minutes, the snow arrived in Wareham, where we were dining.

At first it was very light and did not seem like it was sticking. But in a matter of a few short minutes, the snow fall got heavier.

By the time we finished our meals, there was about 1/2 to 1 inch on the ground.

On the way back we stopped at the Wareham Post Office so that 'Miah could pick up the his family's mail. And then we brought him back to his house so that he could drop off the mail and let both of his dogs out to the bathroom.

Finally, we were on our way home. The roads had been getting worse. And it was heartening to know that my ABS brakes did a really great job the 2 times I had to use them. (I mainly down-shifted to slow down and maintain control of my vehicle.)

After the S-turn in Marion, there was an accident where a jeep spun out and hit a minivan. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the minivan did sustain some good damage.

'Miah got out of the car to render help, which involved getting the driver's minivan door open (because it was crushed in) and calling 911 (because the minivan's lady's cell phone had died).

After having done his good deed for the day, we headed home for good.

Because I had a lot of groceries in the trunk, I decided to back up into the driveway so that it would be easier to unload the car. However, with the driveway going up on a berm, my car kept getting stuck.

It took a few tries to get my car totally in the driveway. As I stepped out the car, I nearly landed on my butt. But I managed to catch myself. (Mind you, I was STILL wearing sandals!)

As I went to fetch the mail, and having the snow squish in between my sandals and my bare feet, 'Miah backed my car further into the driveway. Then he and Ariana unloaded the groceries from the car and brought them in.

After putting away the groceries, I called Neil in Lubbock, and put the phone on speaker so that the 3 of us could talk to him.

Just think, while it was snowing over here with temps in the high 20s, it was sunny and warm in Lubbock with temps in the low 60s.

It was starting to get dark, and the kids were getting anxious to go play in the snow. And I wanted to go outside to take some pix. So we said our goodbyes.

By the time I got dressed in appropriate snow gear and got outside, it was already dark. So that meant that I was going to have to use a flash.

This spruce was the first pic that I took. The flash really picked up the falling snow. (This was my favorite picture of them all.)

This is a spot between one of the spruce trees and some bushes.

The flash really caught a lot of falling snow flakes. You can very barely see the trees in the background.

Standing underneath a pine tree in the back field, I took a picture of these hanging pine branches. I was pretty much protected from the snow fall while under that tree.

Walking back from the back field, this is the tree under which I used to park my Tundra pick-up truck whenever I wanted to take a nap in the summer without being disturbed by ringing phones and rambunctious critters.

Now I'm coming up to the front porch. You can see that everything is getting a good dusting. . .

. . . even the sea pony.

Even Hannibal the Kitty Cannibal got a little bit of a dusting on his back.

'Miah had gone to the car to get his overnight duffel.

He was planning on getting out some heavy winter gear so that he could go outside and play in the snow.

'
Miah found Neil's cross-country skis, and decided to give them a go.

I was inside, editing the pix that I took, when I heard 'Miah yelling for me to come outside.

There he was on Neil's skis, poised to take them down the front steps!

I talked him out of that, saying that the skis were not designed to go down stairs, and that not only would he break the skis, he would also break some bones.

Surprisingly, 'Miah listened to me this time, unlike the time when he decided to play with the fire extinguisher inside the living room.

'
Miah was having a difficult time trying to get used to using cross-country skis. As he was backing up from the front steps and turning around, I warned him to make sure that he does not cross the skis.

Apparently 'Miah had already crossed the skis a couple of times and had landed on his face.

I guess that cross-country skiing is not as straight forward as it looks.

That was enough of 'Miah's experiment with the skis.

This time he and Ariana were going to take a walk to the convenience store that was about 1 1/4 miles down the road.

"You're idiots to do that," especially when the snow was still coming down hard. If I had to rescue them, it would have been difficult for me to drive my car, especially when the roads were getting worse.

And with several inches already on the ground, would my car even be able to make it out of the driveway?

Still, the kids were determined to go on their walk in the winter wonderland.

Ariana went through her clothes, finding all sorts of clothes to layer over each other.

With all the odd articles of clothing Ariana was putting on, 'Miah called out, "You gotta take a picture of Ariana!"

Doesn't Ariana look like a Russian peasant ready to go and hitch up the troika for some czar?

It's been a while since the kids have left.

They haven't yet come back, and I haven't yet heard from them.

I don't dare pour myself my evening glass of wine in case I get a call for me to go and rescue them.