Well, I started having dreams about tropical locations while asleep the other night. That means one thing.....it's the dead of winter. It's interesting that something primordial inside of me immediately rejects reality and brings me to places of warm tranquility in my subconsciousness when the harsh reality of...well reality...is sub-zero wind chills and feet of snow.

When I was a kid I used to love this time of year. I remember listening for the firehouse sirens at 7am which would signal a snow day. If there was a snow day I didn't go back to bed. Oh no, I used every ounce of that day to do the things that I couldn't do while wearing the shackles of a student. I watched early morning cartoons until my Peanuts eye-glasses needed a stronger prescription. I donned my snow gear, (Which, btw, never consisted of snow pants. I'm sure they were invented when I was a kid, but apparently my parents never heard of them because I knew it was time to come in from my fun when my Jordache jeans were soaked straight through, frozen stiff again and my legs burned with the warning signs of severe frost-bite), went outside and played until well, see my side-bar... We'd go to the County Park, rub the rust off of our sled blades and cruised down that hill over and over again. I remember snow piled so high in my front yard that I'd climb it and be as tall as the second floor windows. Snow men with real coal for eyes and buttons were built in my backyard. I'd come inside to a steaming hot cup of Ovaltine with marshmallows and my mother would lay all of my wet snow gear on the furnace so that I could go back out again. I remember fondly the hissing of the radiators as they dried my mittens and I'd curl up next to them and play with my toys until everything was dry.

Not to be too nostalgic, but what the heck happened? Now, when I get the automated call in the morning or blessedly the night before, I breath a sigh of relief because I know that I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn. I sleep right through those early morning cartoons. I use my day to catch up on organizing, dusting and laundry. When the kids start to kill each other I throw them out in the snow. They don't have to trudge 1/2 a mile to the park to sled and yet they complain. We have a few great hills right in our own backyard and inevitably they're in the house faster than it took me to get them in all of that snow gear, which yes, includes snow pants! They of couse want hot chocolate and so I whip them up some Drostes on the stove with organic cane sugar, complete with Jet-Puffed marshmallows and then promptly throw their gear into the dryer so that if they do want to go back out it's all ready for them. Boots are toasted by the wood-burning stove even....yet....they never seem to want to go back out there. This is when the cabin fever sets in for Sara.

I often wondered if we were a snow-sports family if winter would be a little more fun. After looking into the cost of being a snow-sports family, I quickly decided that $1500 for just the kids wasn't possible for us and would actually make for a nice vacation for me and the hubby. Not that we have $1500. So without the chance of being snow bunnies, what's a girl/mom to do?

Oh we cook together...henceforth I put on my winter coat of extra weight. We play games....did I ever tell you how good I am at "Pictureka!"? We do go out sledding in the yard....I threw my back out last year but so far so good this year. I dream of ice skating, but again it's not so cost effective. Not to mention I actually find that once I get out into that cold...gasp....I'm cold! I mean really, really, cold. Like old-lady cold. Like, give me a hot cup of tea and an afghan because I really don't like this stuff anymore, cold. Don't get me wrong, I push through it. Never to be a quitter, I go hiking in the snow, take the kids out, stand at the slopes to watch my 14 year-old snowboard. I just would prefer it to be about 60 degrees warmer, that's all. I know, I know, we're not supposed to rush these things. We should revel in all that life gives us as it's just a fleeting moment and will all be done in a flash. I can't help but feel...blah, blah, blah...yadda, yadda, yadda to that one.

I will admit, I love the beauty of nature the day after a heavy snowfall. The way the snow covers everything in a sparkling coat of white. I value the comfort of a warm blanket while listening to the wind whistling outside. I love the crackle of the wood in the wood-burning stove and the soft hiss of the kettle on top. I enjoy the savory creations in the crock-pot that help to warm our insides. I just can't help but look forward to the crocuses popping their heads up. The pussy-willows soft buds appearing. The vibrant yellows of forsythia and deep purples of lilacs decorating my property.

I won't rush winter away....what choice do I have I'm not Mother-time? I will keep that bin of snow-gear ready in my dining room. I will keep a box of Droste's Dutch cocoa stocked in the pantry. I'll continue to mop up the melted snow on my kitchen floor. I'll play play referee to the cabin-fevered children. I'll make as many snowmen as I possibly can. I will wake up early to help my daughter prepare a crock-pot meal for us all. I'll just continue to do it all with one eye on the warmer seasons with the fragrance of sweet flowers in the air and the opportunity to shed my winter layers and come out of hibernation with a new found appreciation for the time of year where everything seems to wake up and come to life. I guess that includes Spring sports, dance recitals, violin concerts, graduations and the parties that follow, and the craziness of the end of the school year. Now that I think of it, this time of year isn't so bad after all. :)