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Usually when I wake up in the morning, I have a routine – as I’m sure most everyone does.
I get out of bed, pull my hair up into a ponytail or clip, put on my comfy warm slippers, brush my teeth and head downstairs to the kitchen. I put the kettle on for tea, feed the dog and cat while it boils and grab a bowl of cereal or something and eat it while Shadow goes outside in the back yard and does his thing. Then I head back upstairs with my tea, boot up the computer and start my workday.
So the other morning, I got up even earlier than normal and peeked outside before heading downstairs and in that cool light of the early morning, I watched the snow fall. Since this was just before Christmas, I was extra happy about it because it upped my chances for snow on the ground on the day – an event I always hope for this time of year.
As I prepped my tea, I found myself staring out the kitchen window. I was mesmerized by the flakes. There were tiny ones and big fat puffy ones. Some fell straight down and some made kind of a wispy decent, taking their own sweet time before laying peacefully on top of its brothers and sisters who had already made the journey.
Shadow the Snow Dog
I let Shadow out to do his thing and stood in the open doorway, still watching. The early mornings are always quiet and this let me hear one of my favorite sounds: snow falling. It’s a soft sound, but one that makes me believe that there might just be a snow queen or winter king out there that covers the earth with this sparkling blanket and adorns the buildings with shiny icicles and elaborate frost patterns on windows. I caught a few flakes on my tongue and held out my hand to watch them fall and quickly melt on my skin.
Shadow frolicked in the powder and came back to the door with a frosty beard and a dusting of white on his black head. He came inside and rather than heading upstairs to start my workday and drink my tea at my computer, I sat at the breakfast table and just watched. It was a really lovely way to start the day.
Jabba the Snow Hut
The next day, I plodded outside and Shadow and I built a snowman… well, I tried to build a snowman and Shadow decided it was more fun to chase trucks and frolick. (the snow was waaaay too powdery for proper snowman making, so I ended up with Jabba the Snow Hut.) It was chilly and I came in with frozen jeans and a red nose, but I loved the feeling of being out there getting in touch with my ever present mental child and just have fun. I marveled at the way the snow remained light and airy no matter how I tried to get it to stick. I loved how it piled up like a giant frozen marshmallow. It was another one of those moments.
It snowed again over Christmas itself and as the various clouds moved through, there were patches of sun that made the fresh snow sparkle like crystals and framed the winter wonderland in a bright blue Colorado sky.
To me, it’s these little scenes that remind us of moments. They are special and, at least in my case, can make the whole day quite a bit better.
Have you had any of your own moments lately? If you’re in a snowy climate, have you built a snowman lately? (If in a rainy area, how about puddle jumping?)
40 Comments on “The little moments”
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I had one of those moments last night. New Guy was asleep beside me in bed but I was having one of those nights where you just can’t get to sleep easily. So I looked out the curtain before answering the call of nature where I was confronted with a simply beautiful full moon peeking out through the clouds. It made me think that life wasn’t as crappy as what I had been experiencing for the last month or so which was a bit of blessing and put me in the right frame of mind to work on notes for my essay due at the end of next month.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 4:05 am.
That sounds like a beautiful moment. I’m glad you had it and that it changed your frame of mind to the positive. And good luck on your essay!
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:33 am.
The joy of watching my three year old niece ride her big girl bike for the first time. She’s a little hesitant at first and then she’s going a little faster and a little faster until she’s almost racing down the sidewalk. Things haven’t been going so well either and sometimes I wonder what I’m doing and why but I know now I am meant to be right here in this moment walking behind my niece as she takes her first ride on her big girl bike.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 7:25 am.
*hugs* I am sorry that things haven’t been going well at the moment Aida. I guess we just need to take it one day at a time and when things start hitting the crapper then hug someone even if it is a neighbour’s cat or a dog. Hugs have this funny way of releasing seratonin and other feel good chemicals into our brains and it gives us a natural high.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:31 am.
What a very special moment, Aida. I am sure she is going to remember this time with you as she learns to ride her big girl bike for a long time. What a great thing you all shared with that experience.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:34 am.
Thank you for the hugs. I have my furbabies who keep me going. I honestly don’t think I would know what I would do without them. They keep me busy and entertained. No matter what’s going on they love me. Keeping busy with my niece also helps a lot because focusing on her makes it easier to deal with other things. I have a nine year old Chow named Samantha and a Chihuaha named Daisy. Don’t know if I spelled that right.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:40 am.
I can understand that feeling, I would be lost without Acheron (my almost 4 year old male tabby cat) and Biscuit who Acheron thinks is a PITA. I would also be lost without New Guy who has been a real rock during all the problems that have been happening here. He is also the only one who was concerned when I had the cold that turned into a chest infection that then turned into whooping cough. I was quite ill and my family just didn’t really care.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:31 am.
Ah, nice moment – kind of envious. I like a good snowfall when it happens on a Sunday. We’re sitting in wait for snow right now but it’s Saturday – errands day and my car is not really built for snow.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:01 am.
I hope you get your errands done early so you can enjoy your snow day if it arrives. Those pesky weather people have not been the most accurate lately
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:35 am.
Dry cleaning, nails and food shopping did! All tucked in and watching the perfect movie “anchorman”. Snow seems to have stopped already. I think it’s just taking a pause. Enjoy your prettier version of snow.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 3:21 pm.
I’m having a moment now. Big snowflakes softly falling outside my office window. No one up but me and Reggie. He likes it when I kick snow in his face. I have not built a snowman. I definitely should. Love Jabba.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:41 am.
Leia and I are sitting here waiting for the snow they said was going to start at 6 a.m. Still not enough here on the last snowfall for a snowman. Leia loves the snow and building snowmen. Love Jabba. He has character.
Haven’t had a moment lately except to be glad to be alive. Each time I go to dialysis, I’m so thankful for the process that keeps me going. I hate people who relate stories to me of their relatives who were on dialysis for a short time and then they died. Makes me so grateful that I’m still ticking.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:31 am.
I love watching dogs playing in the snow. Talk about joyous abandonment! Reggie is already too cute for words, so I imagine snow Reggie might be almost too much cuteness
Enjoy your day and the snow falling
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:37 am.
Well, I TRIED to have a snow moment, even ate cereal last night from my snowman bowl (which I have to hide from hubby or he’ll never let me have it!) but the weatherman was wrong and we don’t have snow today – but a freezing mix of precip. Oh well, maybe next time.
Love your jabba the snow man! Thats what I thought of before I even read your blurb.
Aida: Keep your chin up and hopefully knowing that you are right where you are supposed to be will give you peace.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 10:16 am.
ooooooooh a snowman bowl! I love it! Hopefully you’ll get your snow soon and can have your snow moment, though a good rainfall or even sleet can do in a pinch (sleet if you get to stay and watch it more than play in it)
Poor Jabba.. I had delusions of grandeur with my first snowman in a long time and ended up with a pyramid – which morphed into Jabba. hehe
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:39 am.
I love those moments! I live for them, actually.
I haven’t had any special moments lately and that makes me sad. But you never know when one will hit you in the face, like a snowball. I’m hopeful. Maybe today!
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:28 am.
That’s true and I think the best part about those moments it that they just happen. They are rarely planned or contrived but appear when we pause a moment and open our eyes a bit.
I hope you get yours soon.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:40 am.
I watched our grandchildren play in the snow last week-end. They had so much fun. They live in NC so they have only seen snow there once since they moved. We have gotten about ten inches of snow since Wednesday but I haven’t been outside to make a snowman. I will just enjoy your snowman. Thank you.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:32 am.
That’s a good bit of snow! Kids are awesome in the snow between snowballs and snow angels and snowmen and just running around all bundled up. What a fun thing to watch. Sounds like a great moment for grandma getting to enjoy them out there.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:42 am.
We haven’t had time for the little things around here. A Christmas virus hit our house, and we all got it. We’re just now coming out of it. I vaguely remember the family looking around at each other, and polling which one could walk the few feet to the kitchen to refill water and ginger ale. I guess the family that is sick together stays together. We’re supposed to get snow on Monday. Hopefully, kids will be well enough to go out and play in it, should we get some.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:50 am.
Oh, Amanda, I hope you all get well soon. It’s rough when everyone in the house is so sick. Take care of you
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:49 pm.
What a beautiful blog, Sheridan. You brought back memories of my childhood with that description of the snow. I haven’t had many moments lately except when the dog seems to sense me needing just a little love and snuggling up to me. It amazes me how they do that.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:02 pm.
Thanks, Kelly
Dog moments are the best (and cat moments, too) Animals are so in tune with our emotions – at least that is the way it seems to me. Give your dog a little extra scratch for me…just behind the left ear.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:50 pm.
There are little moments all the time. The trick is remembering to notice and appreciate them.
And I love Jabba the Snow Hut!! *g*
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:41 pm.
Very true, Suzanne!
and for some reason I thought you would like Jabba. heh
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:51 pm.
Kind of dorky, but the moment is just getting outside with Moose, walking for three or four miles in silence. I love the holidays, but the noise and activity and children fighting (little darlings) gets to me. Nothing like being outside in nature and just moving. Sigh
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:54 pm.
Those are good moments and a great escape from the noise. Plus Moose is a great walking buddy.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 1:33 pm.
Just this morning I was up early to drive to Long Beach to get my hair cut. My stylist is worth the 30+ minute drive. It was so quiet and peaceful at 7:30 am – both kids were sleeping still (and my dh wasn’t coughing; he has bronchitis), I peeked in on both of them. At 12 my ds is really a young man – 1.5″ taller than me and still growing. I can remember when he started sleeping in his ‘big boy bed,’ that’s almost too small for him. He’s growing up too fast. Just yesterday he was my little dude. And then there’s my daughter. Her head was at the wrong end if the bed with no covers on. I lifted her head up to pull the blanket out. As I covered her with the blanket, she nestled into it, and I thought about how peaceful she looked because she’s anything but peaceful when she’s awake. Then, I think of when she was a baby – the baby from Hades – and realize she’s come a LONG way from there. Learning how to communicate made her (and our lives) easier. Though, I dread her teen years.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 5:45 pm.
I often take night walks and some of my special moments are quietly observing the moonlight on any given night. How much, how big or small the moon is, what can be seen or not seen that night. Of course, moonlight on snow is especially magical.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 6:18 pm.
Oh, you are so right about moonlight on snow. It turns it into a fairy land
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
We don’t get snow where I live (maybe once in every 20 years but not enough to stick) but I am listening to the rain right now. We don’t get them often but I love a good thunderstorm especially in the summer. I do enjoy watching the humming birds that check out my Bird of Paradise right outside the picture window although it drives the kitties crazy!
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 7:19 pm.
A good rain is so beautiful – between the sound and watching the drops fall and knowing that everything is going to smell so clean after.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:05 pm.
Ah, I love those moments, Sheridan.
Mine are mornings, when I’m sipping coffee with Hot Cop before he heads out to work and settle in with my laptop. I treasure those quiet moments when we talk and laugh and get ready to face the day.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 10:17 pm.
oh, those are awesome moments
Even more so since you get to share them with Hot Cop.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:06 pm.
We haven’t had much snow here in BC, Canada lately. There was one day… but it melted within a couple of hours. We’ve been getting rain, though, and my sons love to jump in puddles.
For me, Christmas morning had many ‘moments’ to treasure. This is the first year that my sons are truly able to appreciate Christmas for what it is. My oldest is going to be 4 in February, and my youngest is just over 2. They were SO excited for Santa to come. Fist thing on Christmas morning, my oldest said that he hoped that Santa ate his cookie and drank his milk. Watching my sons open their presents gave me so much more joy than opening my own.
My sons are so used to hearing me say that I love them and they’re used to me hugging and kissing them all the time (I can’t help it, they’re just so darn cute!) that they have gotten in the habit of doing the same to me. There’s nothing sweeter than a little voice telling you that they love you or giving you a big wet smooch on your cheek. My youngest will give me wet kisses on the cheek, then get his stuffed animals to do the same. The great big smile of pride on their faces after they’ve done something nice is something to be treasured for sure.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:18 pm.
What a fun Christmas! There is still all the magic and they can process more of it. It makes it magical even for we adults.
Those little voices saying they love you is something to treasure.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:08 pm.
There is nothing like a snowfall, where it’s so pretty that you feel like you’re in the middle of a snowglobe. Snow is magical and thank you for the beautiful description!
And my moments are with my girls in the morning. When I can hear their little feet plodding along on the floor. A warm little 4 year old comes in, with rumpled hair, a well rested face, still sleepy eyes, and a smile to snuggle in my bed for a minute or two before we get up to enjoy the weekend. Not much of a better moment for me than little kids in the morning.
Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:56 pm.
What a sweet picture you painted! It reminded me of when I would do that to my parents. It was always so comfy and warm snuggling up in the big bed.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:10 pm.
I’ve done a bit of puddle jumping in my time. Most recently because I got caught out & it was ALL puddles. I just slogged through it.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 3:40 am.
lol yeah, sometimes when you get caught in in, slogging is about all you can do.
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 12:10 pm.