Oh, what a night!

Yesterday, the schools were closed because they thought we were going to have snow... again. I don't think the kids have had more than one full week of school since mid-January (which thrills them, but is rapidly driving the parents up the wall.) Having the kids home would have been fine if we'd had any sort of precipitation... at all.. in any quantity. What we had instead was a sky full of clouds... that's it, just big, fluffy, grey clouds that hung there refusing to drop anything at all. Finally, late in the afternoon the snow showers began and it was like people suddenly developed automotive amnesia.

"What is this white stuff? I'd better go two miles per hour." "Whew. That's better. Thank goodness I made it up that hill. Oh gosh! That hill has a side that goes down, too? With a curve?!? I know, if I push down hard on that long, vertical pedal. I can get past that tricky bit really quickly..."

Yes, yes, you can get past that bit quite quickly, and after they dislodge your car from those trees (which were the only thing that kept you from plunging to your certain doom), perhaps you'll remember that you are driving on a mountain road. You live in a town established in the mountains, we get snow every year, the shady spots are always the first to get bad and the last to clear and gravity is not just a good idea, it's the law. The laws of nature have not changed, and neither has the number of the guy who has to pull your car out of the ditch every winter. (By the way, his wife says thank you for providing them the means to take that cruise next week.)

The snow brought us not only the chance to bet on how many cars were going to wind up in the ditch, but also the chance to look at various animal footprints... including the set on our deck. I was enjoying the chance to squeeze in a little bit of education on a snow day right until my darling offspring said, "Oh, I know that one, it's a cat print. You know, I just heard a cat outside a couple minutes ago." A cat? On our deck? A couple minutes ago? But nobody we know around here has a cat. It's absolutely freezing out there (low teens). This can't be good.

I took a peek outside and sure enough, there was the cat. It's a beautiful, fluffy, ginger cat with a great personality. It's very friendly and playful and I'm sure it has just lost its way. My husband stated in no uncertain terms that the cat was not welcome to our spare bathroom, but he acceeded the garage after I pointed at the temperature. I checked with the local vets and the shelter, but either no one has missed our feline visitor yet, or the cat's playing me for a fool. My kids think the song "The Cat Came Back" is oddly appropriate for this situation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our situation is just temporary. Please keep all smirks covered and remember, I'm a knitter, I have lots of pointy sticks at my disposal.