REMINDER OF SPRING

“Well, it’s started.” I said with a sigh as I looked out our front window. The snow had just begun and the predictions were anywhere from a foot to eighteen inches dropping on us over the next two days. “The blizzard of ’26” I sighed again.

“Isn’t it nice that we’re all cozy in our warm house, with a pot of homemade chicken soup on the stove?” My husband Steven asked as he stood next to me by the window.

“I guess.” I said as I sat down on the couch, picked up my book I’d been reading, and grabbed the throw from the back of the couch, tossing it over my legs. I glanced out the window again. “It’s coming down fast.”

“It’s supposed to be two inches an hour.” Steven said as he headed out to the kitchen. “Is this soup ready yet?” He called.

“I’d give it another hour.” I looked at my watch. “I thought we’d have it for lunch.”

“I’ll just give it a little test.” He called back as I heard the lid come off the pot.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Okay. Let me know what you think.”

My son Alex came into the room and looked out the window. “So, it finally started.”

“Yup.” I could see the wind was picking up and the snow was starting to come in sideways. “Two whole fun days of this.”

“Hey, this is the easy part.” Alex said as he sat down at the other end of the couch.

I was confused. “The easy part?”

“Sure.” He grabbed another blanket and pulled it over his legs. “Watching the storm is the easy part. Shoveling it out is going to be the problem.”

I sighed again as I leaned my head back against the pillow. “I’m so done with snow.”

Steven came back in the room holding a pot of mini daffodils. “When did you get this?” He asked as he brought over the pot and placed it on the coffee table next to me.

“When I went to the grocery store yesterday to stock up on storm groceries.”

“Storm groceries?” Alex asked.

“Well, it was my usual grocery shopping day but I added some muffin mixes, chips and dip, and some ice cream.” I looked over at Alex. “You know. Storm food.”

“What kind of muffins are you making?” Steven asked.

“You have a choice. Blueberry or banana nut?” I closed my book and tossed it on the coffee table. “I can’t focus on reading right now.” I tossed the blanket off me and got up, ready to go in the kitchen to start baking.

“Wow.” Steven looked serious. “That’s a tough choice.”

I looked over at him and shook my head. “I could make both.” I said with a laugh.

“That’s probably a good decision.” Steven nodded in agreement. “The storm is going to go on for a few days.”

I grabbed the pot of flowers and placed them on the window sill. “This is going to help.”

“How’s that going to help?” Alex asked.

“Well, if I only focus on the flowers thinking that spring is only a few weeks away maybe what’s happening outside will fade away.”

Alex laughed. “I guess you could try that.”

Putting my hands on my hips I stared at the daffodils whispering to myself. “It’s almost spring. It’s almost spring.” I took a deep breath. “You know I think that helped.” I turned around and looked at Steven. “Time to get some baking done.” I said as I headed to the kitchen. “Both kinds coming up!”

“That’s my girl!” Steven called back.