Snow Paws, or the lack thereof.

I am not happy about the snow.

It’s been a while since we saw a major snow storm here, and they say we are going to get a foot. That is A LOT for where I live.

The markets have been packed, and the state just issued an order asking everyone to please stay at home. Apparently last time there was bad snow, people went out and got stuck in white outs and such, and rescuers died trying to save them.

Loviefluffy and I have all the food, medicine and water we need (I hope.) It is cold in our little place but the heat is still on, it just can’t quite keep up with the wind through the beautiful, big windows when it gets this far down in the teens temperature-wise. We were under every blanket we own last night. Well, I was. She doesn’t like to be under the blankets but she makes a nest out of them and snuggles.

She hasn’t needed to develop a super thick fur coat since she never, ever goes outside, and she is older now. About twelve. I can sometimes tell that she’s cold. If the heat goes out and it gets too cold, I’ll just curl myself around her to keep us warm. She often sleeps right on top of me. We love to be together. My last purchase besides some Chinese food for the regular Caturday night dinner that my good friend Ken Anderson and I have was a can of snow storm Fancy Feast for the baby. She usually eats only dry, prescription Kidney Purina, but a special treat on the snow day is fine.

People think that I’d be happy, as a teacher, to have a snow day, but I’m not. Subs don’t get paid when we don’t go to school, whether we choose to take a day off, it’s a break or it’s a snow day. I don’t have the kind of savings where I’m okay with missing expected pay, so I’m hoping to be back at work as soon as possible. I had to miss a few days last week because I got a terrible sore throat and fever would not have been able to talk over the kids, but I was counting on being back all week this week. I’ll be in as soon as anyone is.

A power outage is a big worry, not just for the inconvenience, but because this neighborhood is known for violence and looting at any provocation. The stores will all be closed, and they’ve all learned to put steel doors over their windows whenever closed. The only one that doesn’t is the liquor store which is always, always looted. I doubt that things will go that way, but given the political unrest in the country, I don’t feel too safe.

I have nothing worth stealing, and I won’t leave until the emergency is declared over and I’m headed to work, but it’s scary to be a woman alone. As I was filling bottles with water in my kitchen after my friend went home, I really missed my ex. We are still best friends, but he is far away. He was really into emergency preparedness and we had a basement stocked with everything that we could need no matter what.

At times I wish I had a basement full of supplies, a generator, a man and a golden retriever. Loviefluffy lived with a golden retriever on the farm in 2018 - 2020, and they didn’t mind each other. Sunny, the farm dog, loved cats, and Loviefluffy paid her no mind. She didn’t want to be friends like Georgia, the farm kitten, who used to sleep curled up with Sunny, but Loviefluffy just looked at Sunny from her perch on top of my mom’s recliner as though she’d never seen something so absurd as a farm dog in her black city cat life.

I was quite alarmed in those days by the rural life… bears! Foxes! Deer! Snow! Trump signs! But during the pandemic’s early days, it was by far the safest place to be. 44 acres of Christmas trees will not get Covid.

It was nice to be able to be with my mom then and know she was safe and warm and as protected as possible. Sunny dog loved my mom and slept right next to her. Mom used to cook whole turkeys and roasts, and Sunny always got a delicious share. Sunny lived to be almost 18, ancient for a golden. We hiked the hills of the farm together almost every day, except when it was so snowy that it wouldn’t be safe for me. She never seemed to understand that I didn’t have snow paws!

For the record, I do not have snow paws. My feet may be more comfortable in middle school teacher shoes on the concrete floor all day than they would be in four inch heels, but snow paws they are not. And I could rock heels again if given a chance… maybe three inch now, but heels. And red.

Most of the men I am friends with, it occurs to me, own guns, and none of them are nearby. Please continue to send your emotional support and good vibes, guys. I’ll talk my way out of it if something happens, like I always do.

[Remind me to tell you the story of the bus stop in fourth grade, where every day I had to fend off a tall girl who threatened to beat me up. She never did. I hope she’s okay now. Have a bad feeling she’s not.]

My sweet children are dreaming of a snow day, I hope. Of course I worry that some of them may not have as much heat as they need, but given what they bring to school I trust they won’t be hungry, even if I wish they weren’t eating so much junk food. “How you get so big eating such food?” as Yoda said to Skywalker, long long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

I will be so happy if I can hand out stickers to my school kids on Tuesday.

Stay safe, friends, and hold your loved ones tight. Sunny the golden retriever is watching you from the Christmas tree farm in the sky.