Forecast Fulfilled

I sputtered and squinted while my mighty snowblower chugged valiantly though the foot-plus of white fluff piled on what I thought might be my sidewalk. I swore when I realized I was on the grass, estimated an adjustment and grinned triumphantly when I saw pavement appear beneath the mounds of snow.

My pajamas were coated with snow up to my hips and I kept stopping to wipe at my glasses so I could try to orient myself in a world coated with white. Flakes continued to fall. Yet I smiled at the tiny girl down the street covered completely in pink winter-wear as she scampered toward the snow bank, tossing herself into it with a squeal I could hear even over the roar of my red snowblower.

Time does alter perspective. I scampered to the window while brushing my teeth, watching the snow continue to drift from the sky in tiny puffs. Then I tugged on my own winter-wear - a beige coat and black boots, gray gloves and hat. I failed to emit sounds of delight while I cleared sidewalk and driveway and I may have huffed a sigh or two when my glasses prohibited me seeing stuff. But it remained nearly magical - nary a car passed and more children emerged from houses as brightly-colored bundles of energy. The last day of school before Christmas break was canceled and joy ran rampant. What was anticipated had come - the news reports and online listings had allowed them to remain home.


“Do you really want to know if you’re going to get hit by a bus beforehand?” I overheard a woman ask as a group congregated in the hallway yesterday at work. “I,” she continued, “would just as soon have it take me by surprise. Someone walking up and saying, ‘So. On Tuesday at 2:12 in the afternoon, you’re going to get hit by a city bus carrying 12 people heading to the mall to do Christmas shopping. There’s no way to avoid it and I’m truly sorry it’s going to happen, but, yeah. Tuesday.’ I’d rather just walk along and get slammed. Why worry about it?”

For just as the snow was deep and kept falling, the economy is bad and continues to worsen. Reorganization and restrictions come in announcements and meetings. The expectation is that we'll all return from the holidays and learn more of what this means for 2009.

But I looked down the street, seeing reds and pinks, blues and purples move in and around the mounds of white. I had a pastor say she was rarely optimistic but always hopeful. So I'm trying to have faith that the forecast will improve.