I am, at present, barricaded in my office.  Outside my window is a world of freeze and white moosh, the skies a bleak grey-white speared through with spindly tree branches.  It is cold out, and the snow is still coming down.  It astonished me to see that the Denver Winter Storm was not only a local news topic, but also addressed out there in the world, Elsewhere.  All told, it doesn’t feel that huge to me, but I’m not certain whether that’s due to the fact that I don’t have to drive in this stuff, or if I’m just used to it all.  At any rate, I use the term “wasteland”  slightly affectionately.  It’s not as weather-bitter as it sounds, really.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that I like it.  I’ve discussed in the past my feelings about winter weather, so I won’t venture into repetitiveness here.  However, I can say with certainty that I was grumpy about it this morning, in a primarily work-related way.  I did my morning workout, and then tentatively peered outside.

5:45 a.m.

6:00ish a.m.

It was around the time that I took that second shot that my husband came out, phone attached to his ear, sleepily grinning with glee.  Apparently, his office was one of the very very many this morning that decided to shut down and thus, he had a Snow Day.  Color me jealous.  Even at 6:00 this morning, I KNEW I would not be the happy recipient of a Snow Day.  We would have to be buried under about 20ft of snow for my office to decide to close.  Don’t ask me why…I have no idea what fuels the general mentality out there of “I’m going to put my staff in danger by making them drive in this mess, despite the fact that the rest of the world is closed,” particularly since we are now closing at noon.  This means that the poor folk who had to drive, who didn’t slide in until around 9:00, were then facing Doing It All Over Again three hours later.  I don’t get it.  I really don’t.  So, I went about my morning, praying for the Phone Call, but knowing that it would not come.

Ready early, killing time, frozen metal WienerHound.

Per morning routine, I walked the dog before I left.  He was displeased with the outdoor situation.  I don’t blame him – some of this stuff was almost taller than he is.  One of my building-mates, who I ran into walking her dog at the same time, referred to it as “frozen nipple” syndrome.  So true, poor pups.

Um, kay mom.  I’m over this, lemme in.

Lacking the Phone Call, I left my apartment, bidding a farewell to my husband, who was all curled up with the dog under a blankie, on the couch.  Sheesh.

Now, I may live in Colorado, but I have never really felt like a “Coloradoan,” to any certain extent.  Not to generalize, at all, but a lot of Coloradoans crack me up, because they get defensive when someone bitches about their precious snow.  One hears a lot of “quit griping, it’s Colorado, of COURSE it’s snowing, get over it, the world hasn’t ended, why is everything shut down it’s JUST SNOW, OMG,” etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam.  Well guess what, Coloradoans?  While I feel that it’s great that y’all love this stuff and/or have no problem with the cold and the moosh and the slip-n-slidin’, this girl just…doesn’t…like it.  I will like it in an hour, when I am home and cozy.  But I just don’t get the “Gotta keep functioning even though it sucks out” mentality.  Maybe it’s not just a CO thing, but a US thing.  That over-driven, self-slaying work ethic that forces folks to Do Things even when it’s fairly needless and despite more-dangerous-than-normal circumstances.  But it’s also an opinion thing – if someone is unhappy with the weather, what inspires someone else to try to force them to feel otherwise, to get in someone’s face and say “YOUR FEELINGS ARE WRONG!”  Where does that self-righteousness come from?!   At any rate, while I am, again, grateful that I don’t have to operate heavy machinery in this weather and am able to walk my several blocks instead, it is also unpleasant to be whipped in the face with the stuff when it’s blowing sideways, too.  There’s a reason I’m moving south, folks.  You won’t have to put up with my “whining over snow” much longer.

End rant.  Ooops.  ANYWAY, walk I did, and I consoled myself in this shivery situation by taking photos of things along the way.  Because it’s still, you know, pretty, and I like finding the pretty in things.

I did a lot of wading, as many had not been out yet to shovel.  And I always take some fascination and peace in the way that snow muffles sound.  Silence, in this case, is white.  Golden snow is something to be feared.  And, per custom, the Commiseration Vibe was running strong, as every single person I passed on our way through the drifts said Good Morning and gave that frozen, rueful smile.

A respite from drifts, from an early-risen shoveler.

Through the wardrobe…

 Contrast

Now, I’ve 50 minutes left to work before I strike out once again.  Soon I’ll be happily ensconced in my warm tower with my husband and my dog and a free cozy afternoon.  Happy Snow Day, world.