Transitions

Here we go again.  


The leaves have fallen, they're all raked up (almost), the gutters are cleaned and the garage is emptied out to accommodate two cars and a snow blower which I am insisting we purchase this season after four years of Mr. C shoveling in the cold, dark early morning hours.  The forecast has been predicted- we might see some flakes on Wednesday or Thursday.  So now we sit and wait...


But I'm still never ready.  It's always a scramble to dig out the snow pants and boots on that first snow day, only to discover that they don't fit or we can't find one favorite glove and then that nasty note comes home from school saying, "please make sure your are dressed appropriately for Minnesota weather..."  Well, no shit Edina Public Schools.  I want to send my kid to school in shorts and tennis shoes with barely a sweatshirt to cover his arms when it's 22 degrees and snow begins to fall.  Transitions can be difficult for some...


That first snowfall of the season is fun, exciting, even beautiful, but I'm never thrilled to have that winter curtain drop announcing the inevitable shut-in.  I am not one of those to bundle up and go for a run around the lake (torture!) or snowshoe through the snowy drifts of some desolate park (peaceful, yes, but I gotta say, "boring!").  No thank you.  I prefer to sit by the fire with a nice glass of wine and wait for it all to melt...for like five months.   


I like the transition from one season to another, in fact when I moved to Northern California 16 years ago (wow that sounds like a long time ago) it was one of the nuances of the Midwest that I missed the most; not having that dramatic change of seasons to mark different places in time on the calendar, and I was happy to return to it when we moved back to Minnesota.  It's just what happens after that transition that I don't particularly care for- that insulating blanket of stark cold and endless snow.  But here we are again, preparing for the inevitable and just trying to enjoy the transition before it's passed.