It's snowing here today. (I promise this post will not be about the weather!) It's the slow-falling, heavy snow that we usually get in March. I don't like snow, I never will, but today there was a quiet beauty to the landscape.
It's the kind of day where I'd love to be at home. If I had a fireplace, I'd like a small fire going and a cup of cocoa. As much as I love coffee, today is a cocoa day. It's a day for quiet relaxation, a day to enjoy the softer moments of life.
Those days, the ones where we can just sit and stare out the window at the weather, seem few and far between. Life has become go-go-go all the time. For everyone.
It's especially obvious when I drive. I'll be doing 75 in a 60 zone and people will tailgate me. My residential street has a speed limit of 25mph, but people zoom by at 40. Never mind that there are small children, pets, and senior citizens who live on the road.
Why do people try to cram in more and more stuff each day? I know that I'm as guilty as the next person, although I've streamlined to the point where the stuff that I'm trying to do is writing or promotion related in some way. I've jettisoned other hobbies, other interests all to find more time to keep up with my second job. That extra time has remained elusive.
Normally, driving in weather like this leaves me stressed, but I'd left the house early because I didn't know what the weather was like. I was lucky and very little snow had fallen overnight and I was able to take a nice, leisurely drive in to the Evil Day Job. I've started getting off the freeway a ramp earlier, so I even manage to avoid the stress of the backup of people headed in to the EDJ with me. So I arrived today feeling unstressed and relaxed. Wow. What a difference that made in how I feel today!
I tell myself that I should leave the house early every day even if there is no weather event, but I know I won't. It's too tempting to stay in bed in the morning--I'm too tired to get up--and then I end up hugely stressed because of the time.
That's what I guess makes today a special kind of day. The quiet snow falling, my relaxed commute in, a relatively quiet morning so far. It's all good.
It looks like I'll be saving the stress for the commute home. The snow has started to really come down fast and furious now and it's accumulating quickly. It might be one of those white-knuckled, 1:15 minute drives home. Guess I better enjoy this mellow feeling while I can.
