May 2, 2008

First Blizzard of 2008

And it just so happened to occur on May 2? Yes, indeedy. We do live in South Dakota, after all! No worries, though, we're back to 50 degrees tomorrow and then 60 on Sunday. I can live with that.

We woke up to snow drifts and blowing snow, so much so that it was difficult to see across the street. By about 3:30, the sky was blue, the sun was out and so were the boys, playing, digging, building and making new friends. Since it was an official "blizzard", everything was closed, including the schools, so we had the fun chance to play with our neighborhood friends. Robert (next door) and Caleb (across the street) were both stoked to have the day OFF! :) We're so lucky... and Grateful, yes, Grateful most of all.

Another neighbor from across the street did a good deed by coming over to help shovel our sidewalk. His name is Sam, and the kids have taken quite a liking to him. I invited him in after we were done shoveling, for a cup of coffee. Well, that was at about 5:30. It was 10:00 when he left. He's a very interesting man with a huge heart. And he *really* talks to kids, like, for real. He's interested, and the kids know it. They were all so excited to talk to him, making it difficult for them to take turns, allowing everyone a chance for some of our new friend's attention.

I whipped up some pasta with veggies, and asked Sam to stay for dinner. He graciously accepted, and as we were finishing eating, Saylor and Stone started throwing the angel hair pasta up to the ceiling. Sam got a HUGE kick out of this, and so, naturally, joined in. He's convinced he missed out on a whole lot by having to go to school. (he's Dakota Sioux, so actually went to a boarding school, where they made him cut his hair, change his name, stop speaking his native language....unbelievable...)

We had a lovely day...truly lovely. Hope yours was, too!
I took these pictures later in the afternoon. The snow wasn't blowing much at this point, but we've got a couple good drifts in our yard. Good, heavy, wet snow, too. Our new baby grass underneath is (hopefully) enjoying the drink.


I wasn't able to get the ceiling in this shot, but it's well covered with various sizes of organic angel hair pasta...oh, the JOY! Pictured is our new friend, Sam. It was so cool to see a grown-up join in the fun of pasta throwing with the same zest as the boys. You should've heard the conversations going, and the giggling by everyone (especially the grown-up!). Good Stuff! They're all making plans now to cook up a *whole* pot of spaghetti (the cheap stuff) and tackle another ceiling in our house. We're thinking a tarp would be a good thing to put down, first.

4 comments:

Vicki said...

Crazy weather!! We were supposed to head that way (have a job lined up in Rawlins, ND) but today they called and said don't come yet because of a blizzard...what?? I didn't quite believe it until I saw your photos..lol..crazy.

Also, did you know the lead singer of The Bastard Fairies (my favorite band in the world), Yellow Thunder Woman, is also a Dakota Sioux? Her and her partner have a movie out called The Canary Effect -Kill the Indian, Save the Man....http://thecanaryeffect.com/store/.

kelli said...

Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing :) both the snow and the fun you all had. Very cool!

Heidi Snavley said...

So cool Karen! It's amazing the things that just pass through your lives when you are just open. Sounds like a lovely day, snow and all. We've been doing the same thing around here - snow and sun, snow and sun. I was just commenting to Martin how I don't know if I would be so relaxed about the spaghetti and he reminds me of the whip cream fight we had a few months ago, where our entire living, kitchen, dining room was COVERED in whip cream. Oh yeah. Memories, wonderful memories!

Anonymous said...

I am awfully delayed in commenting on this post, but was just going to point out that while you guys were having your blizzard, we (across the state) were having tornado warnings!

Strange day indeed!