Happy Winter

So many great things today. We woke up to snow, lots of snow, giant fat flakes tumbling out of the sky. Real snow is such a rare treat in this part of the world and the kid in me tends to get very excited about it especially when there's a night off work. I actually felt well enough to walk around the neighborhood with the kids. I love how the snow muffles sound. For a time we heard only our feet crunching the snow. The Princess can't remember a proper snowfall in her lifetime so this was huge for her.

I'm drinking my first cup of coffee since I got sick--what a treat! The little things in life are good, no? As we walked in the snow, I thought of Happy Winter Fudge Cake, a recipe from Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking which along with the earlier Home Cooking, is one of the most read books in my library. Colwin's novels are not my favorites but her food writing is spectacular. Reading her essays about food and cooking is like hanging out in the kitchen with a clever, talented and much loved friend. Of course there are wonderful recipes but there's more: an enthusiasm for making and sharing food that is contagious and inspiring. Whenever I find myself in a funk a re-read of either of these books will quickly set things right.

The phone keeps ringing as baffled students call to figure out if they need to venture out to school tonight. I am happy to tell them "stay home, keep warm". We have a cozy fire, lovely music, leftovers in the fridge and there's nothing ahead of me but a long night of knitting--bliss! I'm not even knitting alone. The Spouse has gone into the second skein of his eternal vest project and MonkeyBoy has picked up the needles again in the last few days. "Mom", he said, "I love knitting. I really love knitting. I love knitting while it's snowing best of all". That's my boy!