No Snow?

      I haven't been able to get any pictures or videos to post so you'll have to imagine the scene:  our back yard was heavily laden with snow with a shoveled path alongside the back of our house and our patio. That is the way things have been for the last month-as long as we've had Cinder, we've had a snow covered yard.

The last couple days have been warm enough for things to melt. We still have about 2"-3" of snow in most of the yard, but it's now very wet, dirty, crusty snow on top and beneath it is all the water of it melting. As you walk through it now, it's slush on top and pure water and mud beneath.  There are spots that are melted away and bare, little tufts of grass peeking out through the mud.

     I hadn't given it a thought before but Cinder has NO idea what it is not to have snow. She was born just before Christmas and ever since, there has been snow and cold. She doesn't have a clue what warm sunshine and grass are like!

     Cinder went out this morning and it was significantly warmer, wetter and far less appealing. Just outside the back door, at the patio edge we created a sizeable mound of snow from shoveling the patio. Cinder's first time out, the mound was so large she had to scale it like a rock climber to get over it. Within a week, the older boys had cleared a low spot that Cinder was quick to find and learned to run from the door, then jump on top and fly over it into the fluffy snowy yard beyond. By last week, we'd had more snow and the mound grew again, but so did Cinder! Out the door and in one quick and easy jump, over she went as if she'd done it all her life-oh wait, she practically has! She's had a ball scaling, jumping, walking on top and tunneling into that snow mound. Today she went out ready to jump and run with the big boys and it was, sadly, much smaller. She went over it and on the other side is pure slush and a water puddle that just didn't yield the fun she's had the last two weeks. She stopped, turned to look at me as if to say, "What's wrong? Where is my snow? Whatever this is, you can send it back and get my snow back. This is not so much fun."  She strode out into the yard a bit farther, sinking through the melting mess with each step. She was clearly confused by the melting snow.  She did her potty and immediately ran back to me at the door. Each time she's gone out today there is less snow, more water and mud, and less fun.

     I wonder what her reaction will be when she goes out and all the snow is completely gone.  I totally expect she'll look around cautiously and give me the same look I got this morning with the question in her mind, "No snow? Now what do I do for fun?" What she doesn't know is no snow means that's when all the real fun starts. I wish I could show pictures of her, but at 4:30AM - 8:00AM grabbing the phone or camera is not on my mind and if I did, the pictures would be in the dark anyway.  It must be an odd world to Cinder, born in a winter with a lot of snow and cold, only to find out it goes away. Raising Cinder has ups and downs so I'm not sure how we classify the discovery that her snow mound playground is melting away.

Cheers!

Chris