By Thursday, Nashville was in wholesale "snow panic" mode, as it became apparent that the weather forecasters actually might have gotten this one right. At work, I suggested our receptionist take Friday off and leave Thursday night for a wedding in Memphis, to make sure she arrived safely and on time. When I stopped by the grocery store on the way home, there was literally almost nothing left to buy. No produce. Very little meat. And, of course, the grocery store was packed with people scurrying around like ants.
This, my friends, is Nashville with snow in the forecast. Every single time. It never changes.
USN and MBA canceled school Thursday evening, for Friday, much to the boys' delight. Forget that they just returned to school after 2 + weeks off for Christmas Vacation. Few things in a child's life are as exciting as getting an expected day off of school due to snow.
It was snowing when I got up Friday morning with the temperature hovering around 32 degrees. Perfect for a good, wet, snowman and snowball packing snow, which is what we got in Nashville. Small flakes at first, then bigger flakes, as it snowed most of the day.
I scrambled to find coffee Friday morning. No Portland Brew anymore, which always was open during the snow, even when every other coffee shop was closed. Dose was closed. Fortunately (and surprisingly), Bongo Java was open until noon with a full kitchen. I got my coffee and scrambled eggs and settled in to read the New York Times. It felt, almost, like the old days at Bongo Java, as people from the neighborhood wandered in with their children, in the beginning of a snow daze that would last through the weekend.
At one point, as I sat contentedly at my table sipping my coffee, I heard Tom Petty's "American Girl" playing in the background, over the hum of quiet conversations at nearby tables. Watching the snow falling outside and knowing my family was comfortably ensconced at home a couple of blocks away, I felt . . . content.
A Friday morning snow, ahead of a weekend with Jude and the boys.
Contentment is precious. Hard to find and harder to hold onto when it finds you.
JP, Joe, and I went for a run in the snow later Friday afternoon, snowflakes falling on us as we ran. JP ran almost three miles with Joe and me, then continued on to get five miles or so in, while Joe and I turned for home. Runs in the snow, for me, are always memorable, because they're so rare. Runs in the snow are even more memorable when I can share them with one or both of my boys.
After our run, JP, Joe, and I walked up to Belmont U. to watch the women's basketball team play University of Illinois (Chicago). Predictably, with the snow falling outside, there were few few fans at the game. We ran into our friend and neighbor, Connie, who sat with us. She and I had a delightful conversation during the game. I learned that she met her late husband, Mike, by placing a classified ad in personal section of the Tennessean in the early 1990's. An amazing story with the makings of a romantic comedy. Who new?
By yesterday, the roads had cleared for the most part as the temperature rose. The boys and I had breakfast at the Henry in 12South, as Bongo Java was open but didn't have any kitchen workers to make breakfast. We downloaded Madden '25 and NHL '25 on the Xbox - gifts from Uncle James - and the boys played video games for a while and read, too. We watched the first round of the NFL playoffs and ate chicken noodle soup that Jude cooked in the crock pot last night.
For a couple of days, things slowed down. No school. No basketball games. No basketball practices or baseball workouts.
Today, it's back to it. Donuts for church. Church. Basketball practice for Joe. Baseball practice for Joe. JP will get back in the books for school, I am sure. I need to do some work later, because my week at work is crazy.
We're all emerging from the snow daze, slowly but inevitably.
At least, until it snows again.
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