March 22, 2013

Snow in Spring

     One of the best things about staying home with my girls is the mundane.  People ask me frequently (and they seem serious), “What do you do all day?” And I always answer them (not completely seriously), “Nothing!” But it’s kind of true.  And that is the sweet reward for staying home with my girls; of living in the moment. It is the gift from the universe, discovering the exact moment ordinary becomes extraordinary.  And today it was extraordinary!  Today it snowed in the desert. 

     We crawled out of our afternoon nap bed and I went to make stove top popcorn.  It is our 3 p.m. snack; our routine. That’s when I heard Hailey start to shout, “MOM! We have a problem! Something white is bouncing around the yard”.  And I almost didn’t look.  I had the stove to tend to, the routine to manage, but when I looked out the window I could not believe my eyes! Surely it was hail. Maybe sleet, at best.  It doesn’t snow in Phoenix. 

     A-ha! What do I know! It was most certainly snowing in Phoenix.  We ran out the door, barefoot and bewildered.  I felt like if I blinked it would melt away.  Hailey ran in, pulled socks over her hands.  Make-shift mittens so she could eat the snow. 

    I grabbed my phone to document the miracle.  The snow had shut Phoenix Facebook down.  Everybody here had scrambled to upload and tag. We riffled through storage and found some snow gear.  We spent an hour outside in the desert in the spring in the snow. 

     As quickly as it came it seemed to melt away.  The sun peeked out from grumbling clouds and chased them on their way.  The dusting of icy white crystals became flooded puddles.  Melt and drops played a harmonious percussion on sidewalks and drain pipe metal.

     Neighbors gathered outside, school children in shorts and flip flops scrambling for a taste of what was left behind.  Our noses were sufficiently cold and we headed home for our delayed snack, now with the addition of hot cocoa.