Day 23, Year 9: Brrrr . . . First Snow
Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Weather: Cold and Snowy, High in the 30’s F, Low Tonight in the 20’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
11-12-13 . . . Snow. Yes, on this 12th day of the 11th month of 2013 we got snow. The calendar tells me it is still fall, but when I go outside, it definitely feels like winter. The forecast prepared us for the below freezing temps we are experiencing tonight, but it did not prepare us for the year’s first snow today. We were supposed to get flurries, nothing that would stick and accumulate, but even as I was listening to this on the radio, there was a blanket of white covering our world this morning. The snow started to fall just after 9 am. Ollie and I sat at his little table in front of the glass sliding doors leading out to the deck and watched the snow falling as we played with Play Doh. But those snowflakes got bigger and bigger and covered the deck with an inch of white fluffy stuff. At this point, I took Ollie out to play in the snow. He called it ‘no’ and it was a riot watching him. He took a step forward and then a step back to examine the imprint in the ‘no’. Then he took two steps forward and two back and again examined his foot prints. He stood there for the longest time and then took off shuffling through the ‘no’. We then went for a walk around the yard. By the time we got back to the deck, Ollie had seen enough. He wanted to go back inside because his little hands were freezing because I was unable to find a pair of mittens for him. I found one polar fleece mitten and one knitted one, but he refused to put on the knitted mitten. And then the polar fleece one fell off. So I gave up. We just weren’t quite ready for playing in the snow this early in the season. The local buzz is that this is going to be snowy, cold winter. And after today, I believe it.
Heather was off to Boston today which meant she wouldn’t get him until 7:30 pm or later. Jed had a Town Meeting that he had to attend tonight, so Mark and I stayed with the boys until Heather got home. When we went to pick Sam up from school, we were invited into the school cafeteria to attend the Fresh Food Market. This is a monthly program sponsored by the school district in conjunction with the Falmouth Service Center. We didn’t participate last month as we thought it was only for low-income families. But they actually want everyone participating with the goal of making fresh foods inviting for all. We let Sam choose which fruits and vegetables we would take home and he chose sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, apples, pears, and kale. He won’t eat any of these things, but because he picked them out today, he said he would ‘try’ some of them. Heather and Jed always cook with fresh veggies, but getting the kids to eat them is another story. So maybe this Fresh Food idea might make a tiny impact on the Goldstone household. When we got home, Sam put on his snow pants, snow boots, and winter coat and went out and literally rolled in the snow. His fort of pine needles and leaves was covered in snow and he just lay down and luxuriated in the white stuff. I was finally able to get him to come in to do this homework by allowing him to bring a bowl of snow to eat. He drizzled maple syrup over it and chowed down and got that homework done. Jonah and Jed didn’t get home until after dark, but Sam went out again with Jonah and they played until dinner time. Jed had to leave right after dinner, and then it bath time. Heather got home before the last boy was out of the tub, but we stayed a bit longer as Sam and Jonah wanted Granddad read to them. Granddad read one book and then Sam read ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr. Seuss. It’s hard for me to believe that he is old enough to read a book aloud to his little brothers, but he can. Earlier in the evening, Jonah sat on the sofa and read books to Ollie. Jonah’s reading is not literal, but he gets the idea across and Ollie loves it. What joy!
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| 131112 Day 23 Cape Cod, USA–First Snow |
