Snow Day!!!
It keeps snowing here!
We are being buried under layers of gray, crusty snow.
Some downsides to snow: carved out paths on sidewalks narrow the passable area and make for uncomfortable interchanges with elderly people, people with lame legs, people who like to walk two deep and chat, and yes, people with strollers; also, icy patches are plentiful and dangerous.
Some upsides: SNOW DAYS!!! Also, things look pretty and glittery and white before they look gross and become rife with dangerous icy patches.
Last Thursday was our second snow day in a month. I got to spend time with Susan, who is the natural go-to person when one hears that only people involved in essential services should report for work.
I remember well back in 2003 being at the Zombie Hut with Susan and our friend Rich the day after the black-out. Rich proclaimed, "Here's to being non-essential!" and we all toasted. Ah. Memories. I'm aging far too rapidly.
On Thursday at 5:50 in the morning I received a text message stating that Max's daycare would be closed due to snow conditions. Then, 20 minutes later I received another text message stating that my office would be closed for that same reason. Whoopee! Because this is the future, all vital information is dispatched via text message.
Susan was home, too. I told her that people kept asking me if Max liked the snow, and I had to admit that he really hadn't spent any time in it. I was never sure what was supposed to happen. He can barely sit up. It seemed far too cruel to lay him down and let him flail around. Still, I was determined to take him to the park ... any park.
We met in her neighborhood — not far from the Zombie Hut — and ate lunch, then took Max to nearby Carroll Park. We meandered into the park by the narrow walkway that had been cut into the snow. And then we stood there. I realized my boots weren't very warm. When my feet were good and cold, I said, "Well, what should we do now?"
Susan said, "I was hoping there would be some more babies here so we could see what other people were doing with them."
We walked over to the swings. We asked a woman pushing a boy if she thought our baby was old enough for the swing. She asked his age, and we told her eight months. She said, "Sure. Just so long as you don't push too hard. Because then he'll go flying out." She made a motion with her arm of a baby sailing through the air. Then she chuckled.
We gave it a try, and Max seemed mostly okay with the cold and the snow and the swing. Though he would occasionally grunt and make little fists, which led us to believe his thoughts were elsewhere. Here are some pictures from our snow/swing/park adventure:
I'll be at AWP in DC this Thursday and Friday. So if you if you're around, please stop by the Smartish Pace table and say hi. I'll be the woman with the baby and the giant scary bags under her eyes.