thankful

The snow started this evening and is already covering and I imagine by morning there will be enough on the ground to make it look like winter. At least until around noon or maybe eleven o’clock when the sun gets ahold of it but I suppose we’ll see.

As my mom would put it, “If that’s fall I suppose we’ve had it.”

We’ve had it indeed. A splendid September and even if the month was a bit much in terms of school groups and church groups and work type obligations we had our fun. Between the hiking and the fishing and the running we did indeed have fun and we roll into a quieter month now and the season seems to be letting out it’s gut after a month of holding it in to look trim for the pretty girls.

October 2nd and it’s white outside. Welcome to Canada. I guess it’s time to get out the skis;)

Our flip flops started their seasonal migration to the basement today and I found my winter boots just to make sure I know where they are and what with the furnace running a little more than it has and a chill wind knocking down the last of the fall leaves I suppose there is time for some good ol’ cogitation. (go ahead and look that one up, I did)

Thanksgiving rolls in on us next weekend and with it a day the significance of which is that it means I have existed on this planet for 33 years. I’ve had it pretty darn good in that run too. Sometimes I let myself spin up in the negative. If focus too much on how much money we owe or how we can’t seem to get ahead with our savings or our freedom 105 plan but really, let’s big picture this for a minute: the fridge is full of food, the truck is full of gas, the lights come on when you turn the switch and more important than all of that is that there is a houseful of healthy, happy people who love each other to take advantage of those comforts.

That’s the kicker right there, healthy and happy people who love each other.

On Friday family starts showing up to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving (sorry my American friends, it’s not your turn yet) and we will eat too much and visit a lot and in the way of those who aren’t as excited to keep track anymore we will eat a “fall birthdays” cake for my mom, myself and my brother in law.

I am so thankful for my family: my wife who keeps me sane, my kids who push me the other direction, and all the other members of my family, blood and otherwise who have helped to make me who I am. Community has been the key word in my life in recent years and I want to thank all of you for being part of my community in some way.

Oh, and pie, I’m thankful for pie.

I know it may not be thanksgiving where you live (heck, it isn’t here yet either) but take a moment today to think of something you are thankful for.

snow day

A snowy morning here in Water Valley. Well, actually a snowy day followed by a snowy night followed by a snowy morning.

The phone rang last night to let us know the busses weren’t coming and then again to tell us not to bother even trying to get Ben to school. No such luck for Nik though.

So it’s morning and Nikki waking me at the usual time (she likes company at breakfast, we fight about this) and me dragging my weary self out of bed to check road reports and advise her that she better stay home.

She declines.

So Nik out the door and me offering some excellent tidbits of advice like “Be careful” and “Don’t crash” and her sweeping off the truck and the heading down the road.

The door bangs open about 20 minutes later. Seems the truck is in a snowbank at the end of the driveway. It was either that or suicide slide across the road and the snowbank seemed the prudent choice at the time.

I put the coffee on and she makes the necessary phone calls and then we sit for a bit.

Then I’m gearing up and out the door, shovel in hand. 30 minutes later and some tired arms and some fancy back and forth driving and the truck is rolling. I park it and it is now officially a snow day.

The boys are DYING to play outside so we gear up and they have some little cross country shuffle skis that they got for Christmas this brown winter hasn’t afforded us the opportunity so the skis go on and we’re shuffling up the hill.

Cross country skiing is not a smash success. Seems the boys are disappointed by how fast or more accurately slow the skis are but like all things in this life practice makes… well, not perfect but improvement so we’ll practice here and hope for improvement on the next go round.

Coming down the hill is a little fun though and Ben want’s more when we get back to the house so little boys in for hot chocolate and Ben and I carrying on. It’s good for a while until the grade goes up again and then falling over and teary protestations about an imagined inability to stand up and dad (the monster) standing firm and eventually we polish off the ski and take our turn gulping hot chocolate.

When we get inside he tells his mom he had fun, so maybe it wasn’t a complete disaster.

And by the time we come in the snow has stopped and the sun is out and the sky is blue and it’s hard to see how this whole situation could have seemed so dire just a few short hours ago.

And now lunch and then naps because it’s a snow day and snow days come with naps in the OlfertWiens house and then likely some more time outside and maybe we’ll even get some work done and clean this messy house or maybe not.

Every once in a while in this life you get something on credit. Maybe it’s money that shows up unexpected or maybe it’s just kindness from a stranger or maybe it’s a snow day with your family. Whatever it is, cash it in. If your life is anything like mine there are a lot more invoices than cheques showing up in the mail and so when the cheques come spend them well.

Savour the snow days.