Hunkered down

It’s a good thing Snowflake is an indoor cat, as we’d lose him for sure on a night like this. After a morning of teaser flurries, the snow arrived in earnest around 3 pm and hasn’t let up since. In few hours since I last let Reggie out, we’ve gone from an inch or so dusting to ankle-deep, with the winter-thick sky still falling as flakes.

They say it will snow all night, and we’ll wake up with as many as 20 inches: nearly two feet! J had the foresight to bring the snow blower, which we usually store in the garage, onto our screened back porch so tomorrow morning, he’ll be able to blow a path from our back door to the backyard dog-pen, which is as far as we’re planning to venture.

Around noon, before the worst of the snow started, J and I walked to our neighborhood deli for lunch, and on the way home we stopped at our local market for a few ingredients for tonight’s dinner: anything to avoid the panicked crowds at the supermarket buying emergency milk, eggs, and bread. At the market, there was no sign of panic, just a handful of shoppers buying random Sunday essentials, like the men in line ahead of us, who bought a six-pack of beer, a jar of nacho cheese, and a jug of milk: enough to last them through this afternoon’s Patriots’ game and beyond. Even in the face of a winter emergency, you have to keep your priorities straight.