First Snow in Greencastle

Snow has been late to come this winter in Indiana, but it snowed an inch or two yesterday, and it's snowing now outside my window. Snow here has a different feel from snow in Colorado. In Colorado snow feels like: "Hooray, it's snowing, and the skiers will be happy, and tomorrow the sun will be out and glittering upon all that wonderful white fluffy stuff, and most of it will melt, and by the day after that kids will be out on the playground again in shorts and T-shirts." In Indiana snow feels like: "Winter is here and is going to stay a long long long time."

It's become clear to me already that I need to buy a much warmer coat, a long padded one that will cover me from shoulders to knees. I've already bought a warmer hat at the Dollar General. I have a pair of warm boots that I bought last year on my once-a-year shoe-buying spree at Brown's old-timey shoe store in downtown Warrensburg, Missouri. But now I need to spray them with some extra-strength waterproofing.

I'm also going to have to focus all my energies on COZINESS and CHEER. So this morning I went to Kroger's in the early morning dark and bought a huge heap of art supplies, because in my Winter Term children's book writing class this afternoon we're going to be making dummies for our picture books. I am now the proud owner of many pairs of kid scissors, many rolls of Scotch-brand Magic tape, boxes and boxes of crayons, colored pencils, and markers. And then I took myself to the Blue Door Cafe for breakfast. Outside it was so gray and cold and bleak. Insight the Blue Door it was so bright and warm and merry. Today I had a tomato, onion, pepper, and cheddar omelet: most tasty. Now I may turn on the gas fireplace in the Prindle Institute Great Hall and write.

Coziness. Cheer. Coziness. Cheer.