Dear Mom, it is the first snow of the year

Dear Mom, it is the first snow of the year

This morning when I woke, I looked out the window and saw it was the first snow of the year. Although we had a few flakes yesterday, this morning there was just enough snow to give the ground a mostly covered in snow look. The cars had a nice even layer over the roof and the hood and it was wintry, though not really a wonderland.

After I coaxed Claire into her clothes and made her some breakfast I went outside to start the truck. In order to be sure we were not late for school I had to make sure the windows were clear before we went outside. As it turns out the snow did not stick to the windows and there was no frost or ice so clearing the windshield was easy. I left the truck running. There is nothing like going outside and stepping into a nice warm truck.

When it was time to leave we bundled up to go. I reviewed our plan to keep track of our gloves.

“Where do we put our gloves when we take them off?”

“In our pockets!” Claire announced triumphantly.

“This coat does not have pockets, so we put them in our sleeve or our backpack, remember?”

“Oh yea,” she pondered this, “Why does this coat not have pockets?”

“Because of a concept you will not understand till you are a teenager.”

“What concept?” She was not going to be easy to deflect.

“Image before substance. At some point someone decided that coat would look fancier without pockets so they didn’t put any in the coat.”

“So I use my sleeve?”

“Right, you use your sleeve.” That was easier than I expected. I can see her explaining it to some five year olds now. “Do you know why your coat has no pockets? Image before substance!”

As we stepped out the door I watched as her face lit up. There are few things as magical as a child’s infatuation with snow.

“IT SNOWED!” She was grinning ear to ear and I could see visions of snowballs and snowmen swirling so violently in her head stray images were popping out her ears and wafting about her brow. It was not that slick out but I took her hand and lead her to the truck door. “Is this real snow Daddy?” “No,” I teased, “it’s fake snow.”

The question was not altogether out of place. A couple of weeks earlier she had walked out to see the first big frost. Thinking it was snow she was excited till I explained the difference. Now she was not going to completely commit to happiness till she was sure it was real snow. My teasing could not quell the mood. “No, it’s not fake! This I real snow.” She kicked at it a bit. As I put her in the seat and handed her the seat belt, she was absent mindedly pointing the clasp in the right direction while she busied the rest of her attention looking around our mostly white neighborhood. With a little help we buckled up and were on our way.

“This sure is real snow.” She reinforced her contention, as if I would try to argue with her.

“Ahhh.” She saddened a bit as she saw there was rain falling now, instead of snow.

“Don’t worry Sweety it is a little warm now but it will snow plenty this year, we will see it again.”

An irritated grimace now fought with the immovable smile that had taken over her face. By the time we arrived at school the smile had won and she rushed into the school to share her excitement with her friends.

As I finish this letter the snow is all but gone. It is amazing what the warmth of one smile can accomplish.

Love Mike