First snow

Yesterday marked my first Nor'easter.  I had heard of super storm Sandy and Nemo, which happened before I moved to Maine, but since today is the first day of spring, I thought I had missed the snow.  Luckily I was wrong.

I woke up to snow just starting to blanket the ground. 

It is odd to see snow start to accumulate coming from California.  I am used to traveling 5-6 hours in traffic to get to Tahoe or another ski heaven, where the snow is already piled high on the ground.  Going through the mountain passes on a ski trip, workers already plowed and the snow grew tall on either side of the highway.  

Once in a great while, I would ski with my dad on a day marked with particularly bad weather.  Though bundled, the snow would sting my skin as I rode the lift up to the top of the mountain.  The cold seeped into my clothes and chilled me as I waited to start once more from the tallest point I dared.  But even with the storms, the snow always arrived before we did.

This day was different.  The cold morning air bit at my skin as I crawled from the bed which is warmed not only by our bodies, but also by the king sized electric blanket my parents bought for my birthday; an apropos gift as my mother knew I usually sleep with two or three blankets even in California.  Rich, who is always up before me, woke me up to tell me that the snow had started.  I jumped out of bed, which if you know me, is a rare site.  I threw on my snow boots over my pjs, grabbed my coat and went outside.  Already, the snow kissed every surface that was not covered.  Even the trash can looked beautiful with a blanket of snow.

Rich had the day off from work (his first snow day) and so we stayed in doors playing Lego LOTR  and enjoying a day away from work.  We only ventured out to make snow angels at MMA, the fire house for the weekly meeting and then to Danny Murphy's  to hang with the group afterwards.  As we trekked through our little town, the snow kept falling, mostly collecting on the ground and our clothes.  Once in a while, we would wince from a snowflake falling into our eyes.  When the snow really started coming down, we headed back home for a night of watching movies (The Hobbit), tea and snuggling.

This morning however, the snow had stopped and Rich had to go to work.  This left me with the wonderful task of shoveling most of the snow; Rich cleared a path to the street for us.  While great exercise I realized that lifting with my back was not the best idea, and that by next winter I need to find out where my abs have been hiding.

Happy first day of spring!