Snow Day!

Bend had a snow day today. Thought I'd share this excerpt from Through Eyes Like Mine because I miss those snow days real bad.

I

 wake up and it's still dark outside. I don't need to look out the window to know it snowed last night. From my cocoon of warm blankets, I hear a car pass by the house. Cars sound totally different driving down roads covered in snow. They move in near silence or with the hum of chains on their tires. My alarm goes off and I reach into the cold room to turn it off. I don't want to get up. Maybe enough snow fell to cancel school. The excitement of this possibility wakes me up completely. 

I hold my breath and jump from the warmth of bed into the cold of my bedroom. I sprint downstairs to stand by the woodstove in the living room. Mom makes breakfast in the kitchen and outside snow continues to fall. It was snowing last night when I went to bed and it still hasn't stopped. A clean white blanket covers the grass and the houses wear a thick layer of marshmallow fluff. Tree branches droop with the snow's weight making them look old and weary. From a glance at the fence posts it looks like at least eight inches have fallen. 

Mom carries a teakettle into the living room. She sets it on top of the woodstove and several water droplets dance on the iron top before hissing into steam. "No school today, Nori. Snow day."

"Yes," I say and smile.