First Flakes

“It wasn’t supposed to start snowing until late morning,” I mumbled half-asleep.  It was moments before 8AM when I gingerly pulled back the bedroom curtains and peered outside my window.  “Crap,” I thought.  An enormous array of miniscule flakes were already falling from the sky completely unaware of the havoc they would wreak.  “This can’t be,” my mind raced, as I scanned a long mental list of items on my outdoor “To Do” list and panic began to set in.

Earlier in the week, all of the remaining leaves on our mature, established trees finally decided to descend to the ground covering the driveway and surrounding yard like a slightly burned batch of onion rings – dark and crispy!  It was as if the leaves were taunting me, saying “Catch me if you can!”

Thank goodness I remembered to eat breakfast, because I needed every ounce of energy I could get to attend to the monumental task in front of me.  Once outside, I felt like I was late to the party.  The cleanup started to feel larger than life and I was almost instantly overwhelmed.  “Get a grip and make a plan,” I heard my conscience cry.

The lawnmower.  That was where I would start.  Making only small strides alone, it quickly became clear to me that I needed to call in for backup.  My reluctant teenaged son emerged after what seemed like an eternity.  We switched jobs, and luckily the loud hum of the mower’s engine quickly drowned out any of his complaints.  Areas that I hadn’t noticed before or stopped paying attention to seemed to jump out at me as if saying, “Over here!” or “Don’t forget about me!” and even “You missed a spot!”  It was so unnerving.

Was the snow really going to come now – in the early morning?  Maybe it was simply a tease – a test – to get me up and out of bed.  Reader, whatever it was, it worked!  I didn’t know it at the time, but those flakes did cease for a period of about two hours – just enough time to make the yard a little cleaner before being buried in snow for an undetermined amount of time.

A few flakes can certainly stir up a lot of anxiety!