A hard freeze

I worked at the park today, and just before 4:30 pm I made the mistake of checking the weather forecast. Tonight's low was set at 26 F.  My heart sunk.  28 or 29 would probably have been fine for our water spigots.  But 26 was too far into the danger zone.  It was a hard freeze.

First snowfall on Tuesday!

So I texted Hubby and told him I would be late.  Then I went around the park, shutting off water and opening up spigots.  Which doesn't sound that bad until you realize the park has four separate water systems and over forty spigots.  Two hours later I headed home.

I think I'm cautiously looking forward to winter.  Normally I don't look forward to it at all.  But normally my kids are in school and I have a season of potential sickness to look forward to, and dealing with my son's lung disease.  But because both boys are at home, most of that weight is off my shoulders.

I love the stillness of winter.  And the starkness.  For four months the snow blankets the ground, covering everything with white.  It's like nature is applying white-out to all of the year's mistakes, all of the year's badness.  It forces you to stop, take a good long think about things, and get ready to try again next year.  

It's gonna take a lot of snow to cover this year's ick.

I love going outside after dark when the moon is full, seeing the blue moonlight sparkling on the snow.  It's breathtaking.  Literally, it is breathtaking.  On a cold day your breath turns to mist as soon as it leaves your mouth.  On a really cold day it turns to frost while still in your nose.  And on a reaaallly cold day your breath turns to icicles clinging to your nose hair.  Those are the days you can get frostbite within minutes of being outside.

December 2017.  Hoar frost is amazingly beautiful.

All the more reason to stay indoors.  Which is another reason to love winter.  A very cold day is a perfect excuse to stay inside, cozy and warm.  Wearing fuzzy socks, drinking hot chocolate, watching old movies, wrapped in a blanket.   My homebody self rejoices.