02/15/2010 18:09
an unexpected visitor....
He showed up unexpectedly... from out of nowhere. We knew he'd show up sometime... he always does. But we didn't expect him to come so early.... and we certainly didn't expect him to stay. He just hangs around, day after day, like he loves it here! I'm wondering when he's going home? Where is his home, you ask? The North Pole!...
No, our visitor is not Santa... it's Old Man Winter himself... in the flesh.
When he first showed up in November, we were all like, "Cool!... Winter's early!" He popped in for a quick visit, and then left, and we seriously thought that would be the end of it for awhile....
but he decided to show up again right before Christmas....
He stayed for so long that he ruined all our Christmas plans. All the churches had to have their Christmas programs in the middle of January, and that was VERY strange! Christmas Break for the school children was extended... no it was E...X....T...E....N....D....E....D......... the break lasted for an extra week and a half. It was so long that families were having visions of "bad" things happening to other famiy members.... 
Brothers wanted to kick sisters... sisters wanted to bite brothers... moms wanted to ship dads off to the China Sea... and dads wanted to be shipped off to the China Sea!!!!
Brothers wanted to kick sisters... sisters wanted to bite brothers... moms wanted to ship dads off to the China Sea... and dads wanted to be shipped off to the China Sea!!!!Old Winter liked WV soooo much! He loved it here! He loved to freeze all the creeks so the cows couldn't drink and he laughed when the farmers had to break the ice with a hoe. He loved to blow his frigid breath so the people's chins and noses turned red and raw. One of his most favorite pastime was freezing and thawing and refreezing so that he created black ice. He loved watching the people slipping and sliding. He especially got a kick when people fell in a pile of snow with their good clothes on!!
The school children almost never went to school! The mothers threatened to send their children to school even when it was closed. The teachers slept in every day and got lazier and lazier.
Now the people are wondering when the old visitor would leave. They wondered WHY he chose to stay. Would he leave in time for spring break? Easter? Memorial Day? "What about our gardens?" they asked. "What about our flowers and trees?... What about our family vacations?"
Old Man Winter blew his friged breath and laughed and laughed until the snow poured from him. Mothers and children and even the teachers decided to just invite him in and make the best of it. They drank hot chocolate... with snowman shaped marshmallows, they built snowmen and snow women. They played board games at the kitchen table. They fixed hot home cooked meals. They sat by the fire and ... watched it snow. They watched and watched and watched....
The people decided that as long as Old Man Winter stayed OUTSIDE, he wasn't all that bad. He could even be quite beautiful.
The people watched him from the warm houses..... and dreamed of summer....