I have spent the last week or so being purposely out of the loop and away from a reliable internet connection. I would like to say that I missed being wired, or that I missed having news-on-demand. Except that I didn't really miss it. But the blog must go on, so I report below the news from my world of the past week:
The big news for my week was 22 inches of snow, which made for a (very) white Christmas. While it was going on, it was cozy to sit inside and wonder what would happen if it snowed forever. And, because it was Christmas day, we didn't really have anywhere to go anyway. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
After it was all over, I met my "plow-guy" (the guy who plows our driveway and the loop road that we share with our two neighbors) for the first time. He and I have had a business relationship for a number of years now, meaning that he plows the driveway and sends me a bill and I pay it, but I had never actually met him until Wednesday. In the spirit of the holiday, I offered him coffee, which he declined, and then he helped me shovel my car out (not part of his regular duties). The amazing thing about Vermont is that even 22 inches of snow didn't really slow things down -- whereas New York City shuts down for a week when that much snow falls, Vermont was up and running by 10:00 the next morning. And it wasn't just the stalwarts who were out and about then, but everyone was just going about their business just like normal.
Of course, we were vacationing, so business-as-usual meant playing in the snow. After the plow-guy came through, I discovered one of the unsung joys of 22 inches of soft pillowy snow: sledding on the driveway. Now, the thing you have to understand is that the driveway is somewhat steeply pitched, has a curve at the bottom and is lined by woods on either side. With some creative shoveling of snow back onto the nicely-plowed driveway (causing the adult me to cringe, even as the kid me was loving it), we were able to create three jumps and a banked curve at the bottom, as well as a ramp that launches your toboggan into the woods to the left of the driveway. At the top, we built a "speed ramp" that we climbed up onto in order to launch the sleds and build up speed for the jumps. [Sidebar: I once had a book in which you could explore your personality by making lists of various topics. One of the lists was "list all the times you have consciously put your life in danger". I now have an entry on that list...] And, of course, once the jumps and ramps and banks were built, what was left but to hurl ourselves down the hill, then drag ourselves and our sleds up the hill again, so that we could hurl ourselves down the hill again and again? Good clean American fun.
Anyway, after about an hour of sliding, falling, getting snow in our boots and just generally being free-spirits, we went back inside and drank hot- chocolate laced with Southern Comfort. It was fun to spend an hour being a kid, but I confess that I was just as happy, or happier, with the hot chocolate, the Christmas cookies and a warm fire.
The big news for my week was 22 inches of snow, which made for a (very) white Christmas. While it was going on, it was cozy to sit inside and wonder what would happen if it snowed forever. And, because it was Christmas day, we didn't really have anywhere to go anyway. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
After it was all over, I met my "plow-guy" (the guy who plows our driveway and the loop road that we share with our two neighbors) for the first time. He and I have had a business relationship for a number of years now, meaning that he plows the driveway and sends me a bill and I pay it, but I had never actually met him until Wednesday. In the spirit of the holiday, I offered him coffee, which he declined, and then he helped me shovel my car out (not part of his regular duties). The amazing thing about Vermont is that even 22 inches of snow didn't really slow things down -- whereas New York City shuts down for a week when that much snow falls, Vermont was up and running by 10:00 the next morning. And it wasn't just the stalwarts who were out and about then, but everyone was just going about their business just like normal.
Of course, we were vacationing, so business-as-usual meant playing in the snow. After the plow-guy came through, I discovered one of the unsung joys of 22 inches of soft pillowy snow: sledding on the driveway. Now, the thing you have to understand is that the driveway is somewhat steeply pitched, has a curve at the bottom and is lined by woods on either side. With some creative shoveling of snow back onto the nicely-plowed driveway (causing the adult me to cringe, even as the kid me was loving it), we were able to create three jumps and a banked curve at the bottom, as well as a ramp that launches your toboggan into the woods to the left of the driveway. At the top, we built a "speed ramp" that we climbed up onto in order to launch the sleds and build up speed for the jumps. [Sidebar: I once had a book in which you could explore your personality by making lists of various topics. One of the lists was "list all the times you have consciously put your life in danger". I now have an entry on that list...] And, of course, once the jumps and ramps and banks were built, what was left but to hurl ourselves down the hill, then drag ourselves and our sleds up the hill again, so that we could hurl ourselves down the hill again and again? Good clean American fun.
Anyway, after about an hour of sliding, falling, getting snow in our boots and just generally being free-spirits, we went back inside and drank hot- chocolate laced with Southern Comfort. It was fun to spend an hour being a kid, but I confess that I was just as happy, or happier, with the hot chocolate, the Christmas cookies and a warm fire.
posted by Daniel at 11:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home