Winter Reflections
Texas is experiencing winter weather right now.
I’m sitting on the couch with a warm cup of lemon-and-honey tea. A copy of “The Body Keeps Score” by Bessel van der Kolk lies face down on the coffee table where I left off the night before. This is how I will spend my “snowed-in” weekend. I’ll be staring wistfully out the window from the couch at all the white and reading a book. The only thing missing is the crackling warmth of a fireplace. I’ll have to settle for one on the TV.
The sound of howling wind and sleet pinging off the windows mixes with the crackle of the recorded fireplace to make the perfect background music to reading, or in this case, writing.
Not all is perfect. I worry about my pipes freezing in 14-degree weather. The metronomic qualities of dripping faucets grate on my nerves. I worry for my newly planted tree saplings. Will they survive the frozen ground to come alive again in spring? I hope so. I worked really hard to get them into the ground and keep them alive the past few months.
I wonder if my children will go crazy with cabin fever after being trapped indoors for three days? Will I go crazy being trapped indoors with them? Only time will tell.
The dogs are enjoying the extra time indoors. They usually spend their days in the backyard barking at squirrels and the neighbor’s chickens. An exhausting existence. Now, they rest soundly on their beds, occasionally displaced to the cold floor by the family cat, which they seem terrified of. It’s quite funny.
We made homemade chicken and dumplings for dinner last night. I boiled a whole chicken with celery, carrots, onions, and garlic to make a broth. Strained out the gross bits, tossed the overcooked veggies, while my wife shredded the chicken. My oldest made the homemade dumplings. She rolled them out on the counter, flour dusting the tips of her pigtails as she made a wonderfully large mess on the kitchen counter. As that was happening, I added fresh carrots to the broth and chicken mixture and brought it back to a boil. She cut the dumplings into squares with a pizza cutter and dropped them one at a time into the boiling broth as her mom stirred the pot. Once it was done, we dropped a bag of frozen peas in. It was delicious. (My stepdad would argue about the inclusion of peas and carrots, but this is my house, and in it we eat our vegetables.) The perfect comfort food for being trapped in the house while a winter storm rages outside.
Even better than the tea and dumplings will be the next day when I open the front door and experience the silence of a neighborhood blanketed in wintry white. It’s not often that my state gets this kind of weather, and I always love the silence of it. The neighbours' dogs are not barking. The birds and squirrels are hidden away. Kids are tucked safely indoors, and cars are not speeding by my house. The insulating quality of the snow amplifies the quiet. Makes it special. It is one of my favorite things. It’s too bad I’m not willing to sit outside to enjoy it.
My family is blessed to have a warm home and full bellies during this time. I know many do not. The library received several calls on Friday asking about warming shelters in our area. I pray that those individuals find warmth and comfort during this time. I’ve experienced a winter storm without heat and power. I know how difficult it can be, especially for children and the elderly.
If you, too, are affected by this winter storm spreading across the country, I hope you, too, are safe and warm. Enjoying some downtime with family or friends. I hope you’re reading a good book and enjoying a warm cup of tea. Take the time you can before it all melts away, and we return to the hustle and bustle of real life.
Until next time.
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