Snow

12/10/2013

When I woke up today, which wasn't too very early, since neither Jeff or I  have any place we need to be this morning, it was a winter wonderland outside my window.  While snow brings along it's unique chores such as shoveling, cleaning off cars and possibly putting down sand on sidewalks for friction, it is in a word, beautiful.

When the boys were still in school, the mere mention of snow or ice, sent them eagerly off to watch television, to see if their school was closed or delayed, which made them happy campers.  Admittedly, I did the same thing to see if work was closed, and if it was, then I too became a happy camper!

Jeff and I are prepared for bad weather and the possibility of being snowed in for a few days.  We installed a whole house generator (affectionately named "Jenny") a few years ago that runs off of the natural gas from the house.  What does this mean?  It means we won't be in the dark searching for a flashlight and/or candles.  I can't tell you how many winter storms we've had that we were unprepared for!  You would think over the years that Jeff and I would have gathered up our portable lantern, flashlights (which only work if the batteries aren't dead) and candles well in advance of an approaching storm, and yet we did not!

I keep a very full pantry and freezer all the time so I don't generally worry about stockpiling up on food before a storm.  To be sure if it's several days before we can leave the house, we might run out of milk, but that's only because I only buy one gallon of milk at a time.  And since there are no children in the house, we could actually get along without milk - we just wouldn't be eating any Frosties!

I like knowing that I can go to the pantry and/or freezer and be able to put a meal or snack together without having to worry that I'm out of something.  Trust me, I'm almost never "out of something".  There are some food items that I consider a necessity: canned tomato products of all kinds, chopped green chilies, pasta, soups and dried onion rings.  Using any combination of those products and adding in some hamburger or chicken, you're going to have a one pot meal, and I promise you it'll be good!

From my window on the world, I can see my squirrels looking for something to eat.  They have eaten up all of our dried corn, so today I think I will give them bread crusts.  I probably shouldn't encourage them to hang around our house, but they are cute and I don't want them to go hungry.  I'm such a softie!

Have a great Tuesday whether it's sunny at your house, or snowing like it is at mine.

P