A New Day and The Snow

Today is Chinese New Year and in honor of this, my husband went to Trader Joe's to pick up our favorite cook-at-home-Chinese. The children were happy. Our plans for the hats, red tablecloth and streamers were halted by the snow.

This evening brought the first real snow storm of the winter season. It came suddenly, even though the news casters warned of it, the school cancelled afternoon tutoring in anticipation. I kept the curtains open in our living room, the big picture window in this Cape Cod waiting to welcome the fluffy white stuff.

My clock ticked to 7:30pm and still no snow. I sent the girls up to take their showers, this would be a late dinner since their dad was still at the grocery store. Their eager chatter filled the house as my son finished studying for his Geometry exam when the doorbell rang.

There was my husband, his arms laden with bags, his head and coat covered in snow! Much anticipated and the moment came suddenly. I had just stepped away from my white-watch-vigil for a moment when the darkest dark blanketed the sky, the stillness of that first magical moonlight was louder than a heartbeat, and the entire sky was the color of cotton with coconut flakes whirling through the sky. In the distance of the upstairs bath, I could hear the girls squealing and laughing, the baby would be elated.

I prepared dinner and the girls bounded down the stairs with the cheerful smiles and loud adoration for "daddy!" accompanying with jumps into his massive arms, smothering him with kisses. They then ran from him to the windows to behold the thing they wanted the most since Christmas - the first snow. "It's snowing!!!!!!"

The announcement of the arrival of the first flakes of the predicted six-inches sent the now 5'8" youngest son double jumping down the stairs. "Yes!" In his mind he was calculating exactly how much had to fall before they cancelled school. "They said we wouldn't have school tomorrow." I admonished him to study for his Geometry exam all the same.

Dinner is over, the dishes washed and put away, the kids upstairs dreaming of a snow day. The house quiet, the stillness and freshness of new snow promises to be full of snow men, sledding, snow ball fights, and snow angels, all the things of childhood and the first storm of the season in St. Louis.

It truly will be a new day, fresh, open, promising, hopeful, anticipating...just like the first snow.