I'm sitting at a table, sipping a latte at 8th & Roast, a coffee shop literally around the corner from my house. People straggle in from the snow and ice (mostly ice) outside 30 minutes before today's early closing time of 4 p.m. It's packed and I'm tucked in comfortably amongst the quiet murmurs of groups of 2 and 3, talking about work, school or families. It's warm inside and cold outside.
Jude and the boys are napping at the house, worn out after an hour or so of "sledding" in the alley across from our house. Since we really haven't had any snow or ice to speak of since Joe was born, it was his first time in the sled. It was great to watch Joe and J.P. sledding down the ice in the alley, laughing and squealing with delight. J.P. was more demonstrative and aggressive, while Joe was content to sit in the sled in front of Jude and enjoy the ride down the alley.
The Snow Dome proved its invincibility yet again, as predictions of 7" - 10" of snow made by the weather wizards as late as yesterday afternoon quickly were revised to 3" - 5" with ice mixed in, then finally to ice only. "Snowmageddon" it was not, as all we got was a bit of ice and less a dusting of snow. It figures.
________________________________
After the good folks at 8th & Roast closed down, I drove around the neighborhood, reveling in my ability to expertly drive in ice and snow. It's one of my hidden talents. I listened to "the Head and the Heart" (Joe's current favorite band) and slid around corners, polishing my bad weather driving skills. As I drove by Sevier Park, I noticed there were still a ton of people sledding down the hill facing 12th Avenue.
When I arrived home, J.P. and Joe were up from their naps. To J.P.'s delight, I told him to put his snow gear on because we were going to do some real sledding. He could barely contain himself as drove to Sevier Park. When we parked and got out of my Yukon, he was bouncing up and down with excitement and anticipation.
We spent 45 minutes in the freezing cold, flying down the hill in our blue and yellow plastic sleds - toboggans really - dodging people walking up the hill, dogs and trees. And we loved every minute of it. J.P. couldn't stop grinning. It was way cool to introduce him to something he'd never done before and to know we were making memories he'll carry with him a lifetime. Just J.P. and me and our sleds, smiling, laughing and yelling as we careened down the hill again and again.
Simply awesome.
