A Winter Wonderland

We have been very busy with Christmas preparations. As David counts down the days until his school break I have been busy buying and wrapping gifts, decorating the house and preparing for Rich’s parents to visit. Along the way we have spent the weekends enjoying all the activites going on in town.

Two weeks ago we went to the kick-off of the Christmas season. One of the high school’s (not David’s) choir sang at the town’s gazebo. They held a bake sale to raise funds for the choir and they quickly gained David’s business (who cares what school it is, as long as they feed him!) Following the concert we were awaiting the arrival of the mayor when a local police officer came up and started asking all the people around if they knew who had left a gray box there. There were wires attached to the box, but the wires went nowhere. Of course, fearless David went up to the gazebo and started to poke at the box as the officer was examining it. The police officer gingerly took the box away.

The box reappeared again when the town’s publicity director returned with it. It was the switch that would turn on the town’s christmas lights. They had not hooked the box up because they didn’t want to have someone turn on the lights before the mayor arrived!

We stayed to see the lighting of the lights and Rich had a chance to talk to the mayor.

This past Saturday we woke up to the threat of snow. Within minutes the snow began to fall, very small flakes.

I began to make sausage and pancakes in order to rouse David out of bed. He came down stairs right as I was placing the Christmas dishes on the table. He had already spotted the falling snow, only the flakes were larger and falling more quickly. After breakfast and a quick shower I got hot cholocate ready so we could head into town. The scene that we stepped into was like something in a Frank Capra movie. The gazebo with the Christmas tree had Christmas music playing. Families were gathered around, building snowmen and little ones were throwing snowballs at their parents.

The Christmas parade had been cancelled and we weren’t able to ride the horse & carriage, since, due to the snow, it would be dangerous. We took all of it in stride as we just enjoyed the early Christmas gift we had received. I have to admit, the hot chocolote thermoses I had prepared were a welcome source of warmth when we returned to the car.

Our world is still covered in winter white with a call for another winter storm due tonight and an ice storm due tomorrow. I am prepared for the worst, but am hoping that nothing will interfere with David’s field trip. I am a chaperone to the theater where we will see a live performace of “Miracle on 34th Street.” This is a favorite of mine!