Snow Day
by
at 4pm, January 17, 2008
The first "real" snow day of the year is always a little special. That blanket of white makes the world seem a little quieter, a little cleaner, and our surroundings suddenly look fresh after weeks of dreary brown and grey. Despite the challenges that driving in all this snow sometimes present, I have to admit that I love it!
When you work in the neighborhood of The Middle of Nowhere, sometimes just making it into the office after a snowfall is an accomplishment! Some lovely views of the woods and lanes covered in a white blanket goes a long way toward making up for it, though. Floyd Turner snapped this photo early yesterday morning of the scene he was greeted with as he arrived for work.
Thursday mornings are usually a little different that the other days of the work week, generally because Don Chagle and/or various assorted others are in the studio for Thursday Morning Praise. The rest of us do our work, but the atmosphere in the office is decidedly relaxed. On this morning, Susan Turner and I were both working on assembling some of the hand-stamped cards that we send to listeners on our mailing list each week, Bill Turner was reassembling his studio and Floyd was going back and forth between the main studio and his office. Then Rick Barton came in. Rick is not so much an office person - I think he would much rather be on the road or outdoors working on a project than sitting in front of a computer - so he volunteered to go out and sweep all the snow off the satellite dishes sitting on th hill outside our building. It's a job that needs to be done every time we get a heavy snow, since the weight of the snow can be enough that it will move the dish just enough out of alignment that we can lose the transmission.
After this task was accomplished, Rick decided that since the snow was perfect for packing, it should not be wasted - it was time to build a snowman. He rolled the base for it, and then came back inside to try to convince me to help. It didn't take much, to be honest! I rolled up my jeans and went to find my coat and gloves, and out we went. I wasn't exactly dressed for playing in the snow, and nearly slid down the hill a few times in the process, but I had fun! Approximately 20 minutes later, we had our result:
He was a rather "earthy" looking snowman, but after this shot was snapped, we did try to spackle over him with more clean snow. Rick added some branches for the arms, and then got Floyd in on the action, scrounging up some black cap-type things to use for the face.
It has since warmed up quite a bit, and something in the base of the snowman seems to have given way, so the poor thing is listing to one side. But he is still standing, and we're hoping that he will be for a few more days, at least!
Cold winter days are a perfect excuse to stay indoors and hang out on the couch with a good book. If this is your idea of time well spent, then we've got the contest for you! January is National Book Month, and to celebrate, we're giving away several copies of a new book each week. Just click on the "Contest" tab on our front page to get in your entry! And don't forget to add your email address to the mailing list for our monthly eNewsletter so that you'll know when we've got new giveaways and contests and station news.
