Mother Nature can’t seem to make up her mind. When I woke up this morning, it was a brilliantly sunny day with a deep blue sky extending as far as I could see. When I looked again a bit later, the clouds had taken over the sky and the sun had disappeared. But a short while later, they came back: the sun and the blue, but they brought a few clouds with them. That has become the pattern. The sun comes and goes. The clouds come and go. It is cold, 27˚.

Yesterday we didn’t get much snow. I threw out deicer on the back steps so the dogs don’t slide. I wish I had done the same on the front steps. No, I neither fell nor slipped, but I had to walk gingerly and carefully over the step mats now frozen and covered in ice. It is a good thing I have nowhere to go. I also have no ambition so it all works out perfectly for me, the sloth.

When I was a kid, I loved Hostess cupcakes. I had a routine. The frosting used to come off in one piece, and I’d save it for last. I always ate around the middle cream. That was second to last. It was the best day if I found Hostess cupcakes in my lunch box. I think I squealed.

I usually have three or four kinds of cheese in the fridge. My favorite changes, but cheddar is always on the list. I like it in chucks so I can cut a piece off and eat it on the run. When I was a kid, I thought cheeses was only yellow. My mother bought it by the box and by the slice. The box cheese made the best grilled cheese sandwiches, melty and hot and oozing out of the sides of the bread. Slices were for sandwiches, bologna sandwiches. What’s funny is the bologna came in a roll and had to be sliced. I was never a good slicer.

My outside Christmas lights are lit every night. I was going to shut them down after Little Christmas, the Epiphany, but the lights scare away the night, scare away the darkness. The rest of Christmas is put away, only the snowmen remain. They’ll stay around all winter.

The snow is coming down in smaller, wetter flakes than it had been earlier. The first snow was fluffy and perfect for snowballs and snowmen, but that has passed. Schools are closed today. The 2-3 inches of snow we have now weren’t enough to close schools, but the potential for up to a foot was. The kids down the street were sledding on the hilly driveways. The dogs have been out three or four times. They come back inside panting from running in the snow chasing each other all over the yard. Their fur is wet. They just went out again. We must be getting close to nap time.

Henry News!!!! Yesterday he came in the dog door all but twice. Today he has come in every time. I watched him once, and I understand his reluctance. He is awkward as if trying still to figure out exactly how to maneuver the door. It sort of hangs on him just a little bit. He’ll get it.

The Covid test I took yesterday was negative. I got the result this morning. It has been negative all along, but I just wanted to double check.

The wind is picking up and blowing the pine tree branches. Small mounds of snow fall off with every sway. Some of the branches are already clear. It is only 33˚. A freeze of the wet snow is imminent.

When I was a kid, I would have had school today. A couple of inches of snow is nothing, not even high up on my boots. I would have spent the morning at my desk sneaking peeks out the window to watch the snow fall. I never see the snow hit the ground. I just see it from the windows. Watching the snow fall is enough.

When I was really little, my mother dressed me for the snow. We started with warm socks then snow pants over my dungarees, the ones lined in flannel. On the top I wore a blouse and a sweater. The boots were next. They were worn over my shoes, and I can still see my mother with my foot between her legs pushing and pulling the boot over the shoe all the while exhorting me to help. My winter jacket was next. It zippered. My hat and mittens were last. I was clothed for a blizzard of major proportions.

My grandmother had snow boots. They had little heels and a button closure. They were black with a small bit of fake fur at the top. I have no doubt they were fashionable.

My dance card is still empty. I did go get the Covid test yesterday, but I didn’t even bother to get dressed. It was a car line. My mother would have been horrified if I had been in an accident.