More Snow!

It started snowing yesterday at noon and it hasn't stopped yet. It's coming down so lightly. Last night it seemed like the whole state was covered in a giant slushy. I wanted to squirt cherry syrup all over the ground and slurp it up. Jamie and I went for a long midnight walk over to the ISU cross training course. It is one of our favorite places to walk. The course goes through a pastoral wooded space; it's hilly and there are bridges, and pleasant little alcoves with benches. There were no footprints at all except little bunny tracks crisscrossing the path. We had a snowball fight and we tried to build a snowman but we'd left our gloves at home so we didn't stick to it for very long. The sky was thick with snow and reflected light. There was almost no space for the snow to fall. It was like the snow cloud was a mile deep and resting right on the ground; resting right on us and on Ames. It was so bright that I felt like I was watching a night scene from one of those old westerns back when they shot during the day and just put a gray filter over the camera lens. We almost cast shadows. The bug repellent streetlights filled the sky and the ground with a yellow-pink glow. It felt dreamlike. The word I kept repeating to myself was "ethereal."

Today I got ready for work, was right on time, not a minute to lose, and walked out of the house to see our car under two inches of snow. Luckily it hadn't frozen yet so it was easy to sweep off with a broom but I was late to work anyway. (When I got to work I found out that I hadn't even been on the schedule today so it all turned out all right.) Jamie shoveled the snow off of our sidewalk. Tonight I went out to Lowe's and bought a larger snow shovel and an ice scraper. The roads were a mess. All of us drivers were going 25-30mph, skidding at every red light and spinning our wheels at every green one. There were no mishaps and everyone seems very patient and understanding. I see the salt trucks going around now.
-Heather
PS: I'm thinking of subtitling this blog; "It's really really cold up here."