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snow brush

Finally, finally. The warm weather has broken and the snow has returned.

I'm sad to see the sun go. But moving into December with temperatures in the mid-60's is just wrong if you ask me.

A few hours after I arrived at work, I happened to glance outside. And saw white. Nothing but a rippling white sheet. For a split second I thought the shades were closed, but I realized we were finally getting some serious snow. Then I remembered I didn't have a snow brush.

Living here without a snow brush is like living in New York City without a cell phone, or in Minnesota without fleece, or in Salt Lake City without your second, third and fifth wives. It's just not done. So when I saw the snow piling up on the windows of Dexter, I panicked. "I gotta go!" I cried to my supervisor. "Must get snow brush!"

And I dashed to my car. While I was cleaning off the windows with my coat sleeves, I cursed my sister for filching the blue snow squeegee when I handed over my old car to her. Yeah, it was hers to begin with, but I'd used it more than she had.

Wal-Mart was packed. I wouldn't have gone there, except it was the closest place that would have carried snow brushes. A quite elderly man wearing jingle antlers was greeting people at the door. I studiously avoided him; I was terribly afraid of bursting into laughter if I so much as looked at him.

As always, the aisles were packed. I maneuvered around six hundred pound women walking three abreast. I ducked between two old men wearing slippers who were catching up on their reminisces of World War II. An employee was in the process of setting up a display of Toy Story 2 Taiwanese-made crap; I hurdled the mess with a leap. I was on a mission: to find my snow brush and get the hell out of there.

Of course the auto section was waaaaaaaay in the back of the store. Past the food. Past the cooking appliances. Past the office supplies. Past the toys. Past the fishing rods, guns and tents. There - between the plumbing equipment and the Krafts Korner - the auto section.

They had a grand total of three brushes left. One of them was missing the ice scraper off the end.

Six dollars for a snow brush? Surely they had cheap ones. I browsed up and down the aisle. No luck. I grabbed a brush and ran.

It's a nice snow brush. It has a nice squishy foam grip, a "double action" ice scraper, and nice firm bristles. (Actually, I would have preferred a brush with softer bristles, since I'm afraid these might ruin the finish on Dexter, but it will have to do.)

After purchasing my snow brush I was able to enjoy the snow. The trees are gilded with white, and my boots make satisfying crunching noises as I walk. It if wasn't for the wind I would have stood outside watching the snow for a long time.

I love snow. It's beautiful, it's serene (even when blowing across a parking lot at a gazillion miles per hours), it's fun to play in. Some of my most peaceful moments happen in the winter, when I'm curled up on the couch with the cat on my feet and a book forgotten in my lap, watching the snow drift down around the pine tree outside my living room window.

Looking Up

______ of the Day

Spinning

"Wheel in the Sky" by Journey, off their Greatest Hits album.

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