In my day we had to walk three miles to school – uphill both ways

I posted this on Facebook the other day, but since some of you aren’t on Facebook, I thought you would enjoy a good laugh at my expense.

For those of you who have already read this story, my apologies. But if you, like me, were trapped at home and unable to get out of your driveway, you also might start repeating yourself. And start taking in stray cats. While watching old Bette Davis movies.

I’m not saying that’s what I’m doing. I’m just saying it could happen.

Be kind; I still bear the agony of muscle soreness thanks to all of the shoveling I’ve done the past two days. We may not be able to get out of the driveway, but the trash cans are free! I don’t know where they’ll go without all-terrain wheels, but they’re free.

The other day, while watching the Boy walk back through a trail of deep snow he’d made in the front yard, I was reminded of some scenes from the Little House books. The ones about children having to break a path through the snow to get to school a mile or more away.

Have you ever noticed how, in those books, the school buildings are always out in the middle of nowhere, or on the fringes of town? In blizzard country? Far away from everything and everyone? What kind of message were those school boards sending to those students? You’re not worthy of being among civilization to learn? If anyone’s going to perish in a blizzard, better you than me? It’s amazing they didn’t all die of hypothermia.

Anyway, I was watching the Boy make his way through snow that was above his knees, thinking about those kids in the books, and when he got closer I asked him “Can you imagine having to do that every day, just to get to school, in snow that deep, without those nice warm snow pants, and parka and boots?” And he said, “I’m sorry you had such a tough time of it, Mom.”

At least he was sincere.

We’ve been abandoned by the new plow guy we hired, and the plow guy we wanted to use but couldn’t reach. And it’s raining, and very foggy, and the rain will likely turn the snow to ice when the temperature goes down tonight, so it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that we won’t be getting out until Spring. And to make matters worse, The Boy and I were just watching something about the Donner Party.

It doesn’t look good. I’m down to my last drop of half & half.

Waiting for the snow monsters to appear through the fog

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