Distractions



Yes, that is my amazing son on the ice.

 My Sunday was spent in a chilly ice rink wrangling boys and girls with sharp skates. My oldest son, 6, had his first hockey tournament. He played on semi-pro ice and got to see a fancy locker room. It was a hockey players dream.  

The time came for my son to hit the ice. He quickly hopped on to the ice and began testing it out. He moved the blades from side to side as he got a feel for the unfamiliar surface under his skates. He twirled from side to side....I won't say that it looked like figure skating moves. And yes, the skates did get away from him a couple of times.

Once the horn blew, the skaters took their places. T crouched down, stick gently grazing the ice, focused look on his face, and body frozen. Tap, tap, tap went the stick. Once the puck was moved, bodies scattered. T stayed back from the pack but made his move when the puck crept closer.

My parents and I watched as he gained momentum and lost it. We giggled at how distractable children are at this age. I watched as one little boy laid on the ice and decided his time was better spent making ice angels in front of the net. Another boy tested out his checking abilities as his opponent took a shoulder. And my son held his stick in one hand while bumping fists with his teammates on the bench after a goal.

The highlight for me was when they turned on the big screen TVs. You know, the jumbo-tron like TVs that hover over the ice. Well, T caught sight of himself while skating around. He stopped mid-stride and was mesmerized that he was on the big screen. He waved teammates over...even the coach. You could read his lips from the stands...LOOK, WE'RE ON THE TV! My dad and I chuckled as the puck nestled itself between T's skates.

"T, GET THE PUCK!", I yelled from the stands.

By coincidence, his eyes traveled to mine. "I'M ON THE BIG TV!"

What can you do? I smiled, giggled, and gave a thumbs up sign. How many times are you going to be distracted by yourself on the big screen TV over hockey player ice? A once in a lifetime distractions.

Three boots

Three sets of boots are nestled by the back door. They are dripping from a hard workout outside.

They have jumped over logs,
                            burrowed into the snow,
                                         climbed up and down hills,
                                                      and stomped through water puddles.

Their shiny surfaces have been scuffed from the ice and tree branches, but they still beam. Who would have thought that one day could be so tiring?

Washington was hit heavy by a snow storm this past week. I have lived in this area for 18 years and have never seen this much snow. The boys were tickled to open their eyes to the sun peaking through the blinds. Both sets of feet pounded down the hallway before flying into my bed. Yes, it was a snow day and they couldn't wait to see what was waiting outside. 5 inches of white powder awaited them. Our green landscape was no longer cluttered with dead leaves. It was now painted to be a winter wonderland. Snowflakes clung to the trees, desperate to stay in the air for a few more moments. Ice sickles clung to the windowsills...their spiral pattern swirling to a point. The hills of snow were dotted by the bunnies who dashed from our dog this morning. It is a sight to behold.

I have never seen my boys hurry to get dressed before. All of our snow gear still resides in NH so layers were put on. Thankfully the rain boots were a newer purchase. Tags were torn off as wool socks nestled into their burrows. Pants were tucked in and feet bounded out the door. I've never seen a pair of boots have so much fun in one day.

They now have a permanent spot by our back door. Waiting for the green to disappear again under a sea of water or white fluff. We'll see what the weekend brings.

Snowing in Seattle

It rarely snows in my area but we are getting a rare treat this week. We have had snow for 3 days now and it looks like we might have a couple more days of the white fluff.

It's funny how the snow is selective in our area. When leaving my house on Saturday, it looked like we were living in a snow globe. White puffs swirled around our car. "Mom, is it safe for us to drive in this?", asked my oldest son. Does he not remember that we lived in NH for a year. Driving in WA will be a piece of cake (or maybe not with the lack of preparation, but that's another story). "Momma, look....snow! Santa's coming.", chimed in my 3 years old. If only that's how things worked.

Normally I would appreciate the snow from my personal globe...under the warm covers, cat snuggled in, book in hand, with a fire going. Not today, today was my play day. My mom and I venture into Seattle each month for a musical or two....and possibly a symphony every now and then. Today we were going to see "West Side Story." One of my favorite classic movies. As we got closer to my mom's house (30 minutes away), the snow began to disappear. Not a trace of white painted the sides of the freeway. This isn't strange.....in our area, you can go city to city and get different weather in each spot. The saying is, "If you don't like the weather, drive a little farther."

My boys were bundled up in anticipation of sledding down grandpa's hill...only to find that no snow existed. Oh well, maybe next time. Grandpa had plenty planned anyway: gingerbread trains to make, Twister to play, and rough housing to wear them out.

My mom and I got on the ferry and began to chat. Out of the corner of our eyes, we noticed big tuffs of snow swirling outside our window. They were dancing to get our attention. I couldn't help but stare out the window. The white blotches against the dark Puget Sound was breathtaking. The ferry began to slow and my focus began to broaden. It was so foggy, plus the snow made visibility difficult. Well, this was going to be a fun day.

As we carefully exited the ferry, we decided that walking up the hills to the theatre was probably not a safe bet. We began to look for a taxi. The orange/yellow cabs were nowhere to be found. My mom finally spotted one, but was told that the roads were too slick to drive up the hills. He was going home. Are you kidding me? There was maybe 3 inches of snow, and that's being generous. OK, we started to walk but kept our eyes open for another taxi. Snowflakes clung to everything that was available. My coat, hat, hair, eyelashes...were all covered in individual flakes.

We spotted another taxi...yeah! My boots with heals and no tread were not gripping well (WA doesn't know how to salt their roads or sidewalks.). We quickly got into the taxi, only to discover that he was only driving us a few blocks. He was afraid to drive up the hills as well. Now being a Jersey girl, this blew me away. The taxi's I know would be doing donuts in the roads...not going home because there was a dusting on the ground. We were thankful for the short break from the icy sidewalks though.

After we were dropped off, the comedic events continued. We saw store owners blowing the snow with their leaf blowers. Yes, no shoveling but leaf blowing. People had cameras out taking pictures...it was a sight to behold.

Once we arrived at the theatre, we entered , took our seats, and was then taken away to another time for a few hours. Afterwards, the snow had stopped and the roads were puddles of murky water. The white that decorated the city was quickly fading away. It was beautiful while it lasted but I'm sure the taxi drivers were thankful for the reprieve.