So, my twins and I are up late watching the snow accumulate as God is blanketing the  street and the house and the yard in a blanket of soft white. And the twins who are 14 say, “Mom, it’s really sticking and there must be an inch at least and they will at least have a two hour delay, right.”

We keep checking the West Linn Wilsonville School District website to see if  indeed they will call the next day a Snow Day.

Today, with just a minor layer of snow (but more up higher) they had a two hour delayed  start with school buses on snow routes, so surely, tomorrow, with so much more snow than today, will have a late start or hopefully, a day off.

It feels so adventuresome somehow to be up late with my twins watching the snow come down together! It brought me back to my own school days when I used to sit by the TV  watching for my school to be listed on the bottom of the screen. We used to sit there and pray that it would say, “Portland Public Schools ‘closed’ or ‘delayed.’”

Now experiencing this with my kids is so much fun.

And, this morning, I walked my 8 year old son Augustin and the neighbor boy who is 7 to the snow route bus stop about a block and a half away. It was snowing and I watched the boys sticking their tongues out to try to catch snow flakes. I smiled. It is a simple beautiful reminder of the sweetness of how children love life and savor the moment. It’s about adventure in so many ways. (I regretted not having my camera with me to snap the photo of them trying to catch snow flakes on their tongue.)

As parents I feel it is important to help provide opportunities for our kids to be outside, to have time to savor these moments that are here only briefly, like a snow flake, like the snow falling, like the snow accumulating. Yet, while we were walking to the bus stop, we saw another mom driving her child the three houses to the snow route bus stop and they even kept the car running for the 10 minutes until the bus came. All the while, they were missing the very moment of the opportunity to catch snow flakes with the tongue.

. . .I know people are saying we are so nutty when it comes to snow in the Portland area. I hear, “Well, I am from Michigan or Canada or fill in the blank cold state or country …and this is nothing” and that may be all true. I laugh at us as well — for example, the other day, it was “Breaking news– snow is due in the Portland area in 24 hours..”-. . . okay, so maybe that was a bit overdone.

But, though some may find it ordinary, there are many of us that find the snow extraordinary. I am filled with gratitude toward God! It seems to be so rare around here that when we do get the white stuff, we are elated. We celebrate. We are happy. We rejoice. It is so beautiful, silently falling. Tonight, I just had to go outside to snap some photos. And a neighbor was out walking and it was 11:30 at night and he was trying to make a snow man but it did not roll into a ball very well, but he was trying. And it was an adventure for him as well. We invited him for a few minutes to talk where it was warm. The snow was bringing neighbors together.

Falling snow does that. It gets neighbors out walking and slowing down, and building — or tying to build — snowmen. . . and,  a few moments ago we saw the sky light up, and we think it was a generator going out. Hmm, we may end up with a power outage tomorrow. . .slowing the neighborhood down even more.

Either way, I am guessing no school. And, my kids, well, I am sure they are doing more than guessing. Can you say praying!