Winter Wonder? Land

Okay, so I didn't get my blanket of snow. But I did get a few flakes. In some areas of Las Vegas they even got some to stick to the ground. (For those who don't know, Las Vegas is shaped like a big bowl, with mountains around the outside and the area where the Strip is kind of at the bottom of the bowl. So the areas of town have different elevations and therefore different temperatures by a few degrees. Where I live is about 2,500 feet in elevation. The snow level was supposed to go to 2,000 feet, which would have covered most of the valley. But it only went to about 2,800 feet. Okay, geography lesson over.)

Still, even without the white stuff sticking around for more that ten seconds, I made the best of my day. I opened the curtains wide (which made my 45 year old house very cold but I had my slippers on) and laid on the couch under The Graminator's heated throw with a book and a cup of tea and watched the snowflakes fall for a little over an hour. And of course I went outside a couple of times to catch a snowflake or two. (Yes, I know it's childish but I've come to the realization that while I can present the persona of a well adjusted, intelligent adult woman, inside I'm about ten years old, especially when it comes to precipitation and Disneyland.) We had chili for dinner and I made gingerbread and hot chocolate for dessert. The snow did make me appreciate my "work at home" status since I didn't really work but played hooky on my couch.

I think I have been a writer since I was a very young child. I used to make up scenarios in my head and play them out. Like I used to walk to my friend Marcy's house which meant crossing the schoolyard of our elementary school that stood between her house and mine. I would imagine that I was a young Jewish girl posing as a Dutch milkmaid and I had to pass the German SS troops to sell my milk and not let them discover that I was a Jew and have them send me to the concentration camps. (I was 8 years old at the time.) And ever since childhood I want certain 'scenes' to play out as they have been 'written' in my head. Like, on a snow day the snow should be several inches thick, and there should be a stew bubbling on the stove and home made bread baking in the oven, the rich yeasty smell filling the house and I should be wearing my hair in a bun with loose tendrils framing my face and a lovely beige knit outfit toped by a long, loose gray cable knit cardigan. Instead I has wearing sweat pants and a gray long sleeved t-shirt that I found in the maternity section of Ross (even though I've never been pregnant, it's a very roomy shirt) with my hair in a sloppy pony tail reheating leftover chili in the microwave. Life is certainly much prettier in my mind. (And if you think my snow day scenario is elaborate, you should hear my "walking along a secluded coastal beach" scenario. It involves me having naturally curly hair.)

So I will enjoy this cold snap (more rain predicted tomorrow, I can only hope that the predictions change and it's colder than anticipated so we get some real snow, but I'm not holding my breath) and if it doesn't turn out the way I want, well the fantasy land in my head was probably better anyway.