For Dawn Marie,

We saw snow. I had been a long time since we’d seen snow outside of Canada, and certainly not over Christmas. We visited my niece (and her parents, but they weren’t the reason we went) in Calgary last spring and we saw snow then … but we haven’t seen it during winter break for three years.

I went nuts. Completely bonkers.

I had been cooped up in the apartment for what seemed like an eternity, and seeing the ground covered with white fuzz was enough to get me running from window to window taking in as much as I could. I had put on my coat and mitts before I finished convincing my roommate that we should be out there making a snowman.

But it’s cold out there, she said.

Yesbuttheressnowandwecanbeoutthereinit, I said to the door of the elevator as I was on my way down.

We didn’t get to make a snowman, all I could muster was a fistful of snow - had I made one it would have looked like a mothball man. We thought about snow angels, but we knew what the ground looked like before the snow covered it; there was a good chance that our angels would be brown. In the end we took a nice brisk walk and threw some snowballs at each other (well, I threw them at Jacq).

The snow was gone again in a few hours. I don’t imagine we’ll get snow again around here, but if there is I’ll make more of an effort to collect enough snow for even a little, action figured sized snowman.

We’re told that the Great Wall gets snow in February. Perhaps I’ll make a snow angel then. My mother-in-law-to-be will have to pack her warm things.