Wednesday, January 21, 2009

the morning after

As of now, it looks like we got around 6 inches of snow, and since it is currently 8 degrees outside, it isn't going anywhere. We should be getting up to 36 later in the day though, so I hope things melt down a bit. Tomorrow we're up to 50 and I suspect that will take care of the rest. Back to mushy ground.

The thing about snow, for me, is that I find it comforting and beautiful as it falls, and I love seeing it before anyone walks in it or drives through it. Once it's marred up by traffic, foot, sled, and otherwise, it simply looks messy to me and I get the same antsiness I get when my house is messy, except I can't exactly go out and straighten up the landscape.

The worst is when you drive into town and see big chunks that were plowed off to the side, dirty and compacted, and there until the temps get high enough, for long enough, to melt them away.

My husband, who was home yesterday, is back to work today, and I hope he makes it in and back home again this evening without incident.

And I sure hope the mail gets delivered today. We didn't get it Monday due to the holiday, it wasn't delivered yesterday because of the snow, and today, with 3 days worth of mail to deliver, on rural roads that haven't been cleared, it will surely take the carrier 5x as long at least.

In the south, having a decent snow means a lot of things grind to a halt, and that's another reason I like the kind that comes and goes quickly.

Yesterday afternoon the geldings had a huge party in the back field, trotting and cantering, grabbing branches on trees and standing with their faces turned up while the snow fell on them, rolling over and over again. We kept Salina and the donkeys in their own paddock, which is big enough for all sorts of frolic, but they mostly stood and watched the gelding entertainment. Rafer Johnson and Redford did finally emerge from the barn, and walked around tentatively with Salina, who looked absolutely regal - her black head emerging from her emerald green blanket.

This morning the donkeys made a dash for the round bale when they got morning hay, so it seems they have embraced the snow and have no fear of setting off into it.

The Corgis chose to stay out half the night. They love the cold and the snow. They even like the rain, and I sometimes find them lying flat on their backs, letting the soft rain fall on their bellies.

The cats are in and out at their own whim, doing what cats do. Stalk. Eat. Nap.

I dreamed last night that I had a new job as a sort of "diarist" for President Obama. In the dream I had done the same job for former President Bush, and was talking over the ropes with President Obama, telling him that generally we stopped the diary-keeping around 11 p.m. so hopefully he wouldn't mind going to bed then, because if he didn't, I would have to stay later and I already had quite a long work day as it was.

LOL.

Then I dreamed I took my kids on a field trip to a small factory that made styrofoam packing peanuts. We could see the peanuts flying out of the machine like.. yes, snow.

Then the factory owner asked us to participate in a test run of his newest invention, which involved grabbing stickers off an assembly line and sticking them correctly onto paper. Not sure what the point was, but he had all his workers lined up, practicing, and he wanted us to try and see how we did. His target goal was to get 6 done in a certain amount of time, before they rolled past us on the line. No one had yet been able to do it. Even with my perfectionistic placement of each sticker, I did it easily. He was trying to figure out the exact movements I was doing that allowed me to accomplish that.

I think I prefer my current job, thank you very much.

8 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Your dreams are sort of weird but you can almost see that they mirrored the happenings of the day. (Inauguration, 6 - inches of snow/Styrofoam etc..)
I like the snow when it's falling and fresh also, I don't like footprints or plowed and dirty snow, so I know exactly how you feel about it.
Glad to hear they all had a blast in the snow, I'm sure it will melt soon.

Anonymous said...

Fortunately the main roads have all been treated and are clear, except for a few spots. However G.S. Church road is pretty icy!

the7msn said...

I think you'd do a great job as Barack's personal blogger! Those dreams were hysterical. At least the factory owner didn't expect you to affix the stickers to the flying peanuts.

billie said...

Arlene, I love how the unconscious takes details from our days and plugs them into more nebulous things we might be thinking/feeling.

They all want their hay in the sunshine this morning, and I've made piles, cleared troughs (two were so solidly frozen far enough down that I couldn't do it), and removed blankets, which they seemed quite happy about. Salina especially, being black, soaks up the sun and gets hot to the touch, and I know that must feel good to her bones.

She looked like she was at a Hannoverian inspection this morning, standing with her head/neck tall and arched beautifully, square and solid. I love seeing moments from her youth come back like that.

billie said...

Matthew, thanks for the road report. I will not be venturing out, as you probably figured. :)

billie said...

Linda, LOL about putting the stickers on the flying peanuts! I'm actually betting that was probably the next step if I had taken the job. :)

I just remembered that in the Obama diarist dream, a notice appeared on his computer screen as we were talking, informing me that I was getting a raise - from 44k to 65k per year.

If he makes the offer, I'll take it. :)

jme said...

ha ha! i love odd dreams like that. i especially like the part where you have to insist on obama's bedtime ;-) glad everyone survived the snow - it sounds like you got even more than we did!

billie said...

That was my favorite part too, probably b/c it's the most realistic. That's totally something I would do in a real job scenario.

Maybe a fifth of the snow melted by sundown yesterday, but we had another really cold night. Today it's getting up to 50, so we're back to normal temps again!