a big ol’ sigh (itty bitty thought)

Yesterday my oldest and I played Rummy and listened to Christmas music

because that’s called “making the best of it”

when you get dumped on with 8ish inches of snow before Halloween.

(Sigh. Big ol’ sigh.)

My spaghetti sauce simmered on the stove and I rounded up jars for canning

and I packaged the last of my dried sage

and I checked on the onions and potatoes in storage and

every time I looked up from my to-do list

I wondered if it was done snowing

but it wasn’t,

it was just snowing harder.

Big. Ol’. Sigh.

And I get that this is Minnesota and that we’re all about the snow,

but really,

this much snow on top of Halloween decorations

this much snow when the trees still have leaves

this much snow before the pigs are butchered

this much snow when the corn around us is still standing

is flat out weird.

It’s been almost 100 years since we’ve had 

anything near this amount of snow this early in the year.

And so,

I give a big ol’ sigh.

The dogs think it’s great.

The kittens, who step into the snow that’s taller than them, don’t.

I’m not sure how I feel about the snow.

It is what it is.

Mostly, a big ol’ sigh. 

Online I post a picture and immediately, it’s

must be nice to have snow, it’s still 289723452345 degrees where I am.

and

must be nice to have snow, it’s dryer than a popcorn fart where I am.

and it never ceases to amaze me how

any mention of the weather makes

the Mother Nature competitions kick in.

Big. ol. sigh.

I shovel and haul water to animals.

I spend ten minutes looking for the one stray kitten I can’t find

and then wonder if he’s under the snow somewhere

because he’s always boppin’ around the yard

not paying attention

and who knew we were going to get this much snow?

I hope he’s not under the snow.

And then he pops out from under the corn crib and bounces

plop

hop

plop

through the drifts

to his (also stray) mama

and food dish and insulated house in the Quonset hut.

Dang it, little kitten.

Why you do that to me?

Big ol’ sigh.

But.

The truth is

there can be

big ol’ sighs of frustration

and big ol’ sighs of exhaustion

but there can also be

big ol’ sighs of contentment.

Such as the one I gave

when I came down the stairs this morning

to find a container of freshly baked cookies

because my oldest decided that

if it’s gonna snow like it’s Christmas

we should bake like it’s Christmas.

And I think

(as I eat a cookie)

that snow is snow

and it is what it is

and sometimes it comes without warning.

And what actually matters

(the same as a day that’s too hot) 

is what kind of big ol’ sigh

it puts in your lungs.

  – Amy Dingmann, 10-21-20

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