I feel like I’m a pretty roll-with-the-punches kind of girl.  When the first three inches fell, I thought, “huh, not really sure I was ready for that…”, with the kids singing, “I’m dreaming of a white Halloween” in the background, while I sort through a tower of cardboard boxes, trying to find a set of mittens and boots for each member of the family.  But it’s New England.  These things happen you know.  So we enjoyed the snow for all it was worth.

And then I was really quite glad of those three inches because the next 20 or so would have been downright shocking without that little bit of an ease-us-into-it storm.

Our little Halloween gathering was canceled.  Instead we betook ourselves to the backyard where Steve built a roaring fire as the flakes tumbled down, thick and fast.  I took my first ride of the the season, co-pilot to Elijah, ending with us in the woods, covered with burdock burs and laughing.  We brought out some of the treats we had squirreled away for the party; amazing fudge made from raw cocoa powder and butter, coconut oil and milk, dates; corn-free marshmallows- completely gross to most grown-up palates and thoroughly enjoyed by kids, they tended more to melt then roast; and sparklers, with some to spare for the party that we actually did make it to last night.  Such magical photos as I could have taken at twilight in a snowstorm with with glowing faces and sparkles everywhere.  But somehow better for the fact that I didn’t even try.

The next day was no electric for the third time in a week, lots of shoveling, quiet indoor pastimes.  And more sledding.  Snowball fights.  Melting snow on the wood stove for washing up.  City folk and those in the suburbs usually consider food going bad the biggest fallout of an extended power outage.  Or heat, if it happens to be wintertime.  But in the county where most people have at least backup wood stoves, or maybe generators, the worst is usually the loss of running water.  For most of us have wells with an electric pump.  But we’ve lived without running water for years before, so it doesn’t tend to overly bother me.

Darning, card games, roasted pumpkin seeds,

and early to bed by candlelight.