littlewashu | Snow snow snow snow snow!

It snowed so much yesterday! At my parents' house, I mean. It meant that my grandparents had to head out not too long after their arrival, and that is sad. But Christmas has become oh-so casual these days, it's just the six of us. We spent pretty much the entire day watching the Trading Spaces marathon. And I got the rest of my laundry done.

It snowed! It started around noonish and was still snowing when I went to bed at one. There were at least eight inches. I'm pretty sure this was my first White Christmas ever. I thought I might have had one once, and maybe I did, but it also may have been a White Thanksgiving that I'm thinking of. Usually it doesn't snow till mid-January, but this year we've had TWO big snows already! Amazing!

The town in which I grew up is wealthy, snobby, and stuck-up. It's also goddamned beautiful. I didn't like it much when I was in school, but now when I go back . . . I'm still not nuts about most of the residents, maybe, but maybe that's just me being snobby myself. And it's BEAUTIFUL.

As lovely as snow is, it was causing agita for all of us yesterday. How would I get HOOOOME? This wasn't just snow, this was thick, heavy, sticky, snowman-caliber snow. Totally crappy to drive in. Though I kept saying that if it were just ME, I'd be fine; but there were all those fricking idiots on the road who don't know how to drive in the snow. Because I am an excellent driver, yes I am.

I hemmed and hawed and I hemmed and hawed and I hemmed and hawed some more. Should I leave? Should I stay? I had to work Thursday (that is today; I am at work) but I did NOT want to head back Thursday morning. Finally, about eightish, I decided I would head home. I figured I would leave around 8:30. (Cue laughter). My mom said "do you want a cup of tea before you leave?" and I said yes and we watched the end of that episode of Trading Spaces. Then I went downstairs to get the rest of my laundry together and then I went outside to load the car and HO. LEE. CRAP. I have never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. I hadn't gone outside yet, why hadn't I gone outside earlier? Everything was covered with snow. All the Christmas lights were covered with snow. The trees -- the trees, the trees! My Lord. We have a neighbor across the street, and they lost their son at the tender age of one. They planted a tree when he died, and the tree is small and COVERED in lights (I love that, when a tree is just Christmas lights, all covered, like in that commercial where the dude gives the girl the diamond something, and also at Tavern On The Green), and so the tree was lit up and snow-covered and beautiful beautiful beautiful. It was so gorgeous, I couldn't leave, how could I LEAVE this? It was raining in South Jersey, there was no snow, and I was going to leave THIS for THAT? Life is too short! When might I ever see a snowfall like this? In the dark? On CHRISTMAS?? I hemmed and I hawwed and I cried a lot and hugged my mom and told her I'd miss her and I just looked around, and looked around, tried to remember anything, I wish I had a photographic memory. I looked and looked and looked as much as I could. There were inch-high ridges of snow on twigs a quarter-inch wide. A bush in the front yard looked like it had more snow than bush. The back yard was untouched, the bird feeders snow-covered and quaint. The house looked wonderful. How could I leave?

I left. It was probably ten o'clock by then. I got in my car and drove down to the highway. My road was still unplowed, but the more-major one was fairly clear, and the highway was fine. I got off at the next exit and drove back to my parents' house. How could I leave? What was I heading home for, WORK? Ha. Ridiculous. I drove around a few neighborhoods and then made it back home. My parents were so happy to see me; they would have been worried sick until I called to say that I had arrived home, and of course they would rather have me around than not. We put warm clothes on and went for a walk (my brother had left earlier to go sledding). We left the house at eleven o'clock. We walked down our street, and past the VFW hall. We walked over the bridge over the Ho-Ho-Kus brook; we were the first people to do so, except for a dog. We tracked the dog. The white trees, hanging over the dark brook -- amazing. We walked through the teeny town of Ho-Ho-Kus. We walked over the brook again, and looked in antique store windows. We saw kids sledding down the hill from the train station. They had a dog with them. We went back inside and watched an Engilsh movie about prisoners who take up gardening but we went to bed before it was over. Driving home this morning was a bitch, and I'll have to make up the hour-and-a-half, but man, who cares? I'm so glad I stayed.