The sky is the deepest blue I think I have ever seen. It is stunning. The air is wonderfully clear. Everything is quiet, nothing is stirring. Even the smallest branches are stillheavy with snow. Icicles hang off my roof line. They break when I open the front door. It is cold, at 26˚, but warmer than it has been. The dogs are loving this weather. They chase each other around the yard. I don’t love it as much.

Skip is coming to clean up the front, uncover my mailbox and shovel the back stairs. He’ll put the cow away until next Christmas. I can handle the donkey. I’ll also have him take some of the trash from the car as his dump is open. I wish he did laundry.

I am going out today for a curbside pick-up of dog food and a few cans of cat food. I’ll order from Agway. Curbside is my second favorite right behind delivery. I don’t even have to get dressed.

When I was a kid, my mother grocery shopped on Fridays. She didn’t drive back then so my father had to take her. We loved it after she shopped. The larder was filled. There were cookies galore. We even had choices of cookies, at least for a couple of days. Oreos were a staple. Sometimes she’d buy chocolate chip cookies. I also remember Pecan Sandies. They were my mother’s favorite so she used to hide them from us. I remember Nilla Wafers. I always thought they were called Vanilla Wafers. It was a shock to find out otherwise. My mother also bought the week’s school lunch desserts which we were not allowed to touch upon pain of death.

School is out on the cape today. Many roads and sidewalks have not been plowed or have only been lightly plowed. Skip was out doing his big plow jobs yesterday. He said the snow was horrific. He got stuck a few times, and the snow was so heavy it was slow going moving it. Today he is doing the houses. I am third on his list.

My cable box is still not working. Xfinity called yesterday to see if it was still not working. I said yes and that it was stuck on the welcome page. The disembodied voice asked the same questions I’d already be asked and had already answered twice before. The man decided to restart it. What a surprise. He said it is working as we are on the welcome screen. I told him again that the box stays on that screen. I told three times. He tried to start it one more time: nothing but the welcome screen. He said he’d try again and call me today, but if I wanted, I could return the broken box and get another. Nope, I’m staying with that appointment. I also think I might just define insanity for him, about expecting different results.

The snow is beautiful. The topmost flakes are diamonds glinting in the sun. The sunlight reflecting off the snow is blindingly bright. The sky is a gorgeous blue. We got less snow than predicted, but the snow is so heavy everything is covered, and the lowers branches of the oak trees sag under the weight. Bushes are laden and are bending to the ground. I saw one plow much earlier on the street beside mine but not on mine which still has a layer of snow. Two of my neighbors are out and about, their driveways shoveled. I will wait for Skip, my factotum. I did cancel an early dentist appointment tomorrow in case I am low on Skip’s list.

One of my neighbors is here shoveling my walk and car so if I need to go out, I can. I am thrilled for this kindness.

We all survived the storm, that is all except my cable. The box has stopped working, but I was fine last night. I watch a Hallmark movie on my computer. In the middle of a raging blizzard, nothing is more comforting than a Hallmark movie. They always have happy endings.

I read in bed for a while last night. Nala joined me. Henry stayed downstairs until early this morning when he wanted into the bedroom. I let him in and he joined Nala and me on the bed, on my double bed.

Nala loves the snow. She eats it. I watched her burrow her muzzle into the snow and start chomping. She comes back inside with her muzzle, nose and the top of her head covered in snow.

Henry was upset last night and this morning. The holly tree, overladen with heavy snow, covered the deck stairs. Nala got through the branches and Henry went through one way, down. He wouldn’t up through the branches. He tried both sets of stairs, no luck. Henry is weird in this way. He’ll go out the dog door but hates to come in through the dog door though he is getting better. He went down through the holly but wouldn’t go up. I grabbed a broom and used the stick to take as much snow as I could off the holly branches. They lifted enough for a clear passage underneath. I swear I saw Henry smile as he walked up the stairs to the door.