The First Snow

The wind chimes made a racket last night during the blizzard. It was like insane cackles more suited to Halloween. No snow had fallen until after the New Year had pasted. It was like a broken promise. People dream and yearn for a white Christmas. Children clamor for gifts of sleds and cross country skis, and never got a chance to use them.

Until the blizzard came. It was our first winter snow. Deck furniture tumbled and slid. It even pushed the gas grill to the opposite deck rail. The box where I stored the grill cover should have been empty. The grill was wearing it. I'd never seen that storage box tipped over before. It had been a frightening wind. We were lucky nothing had flown into a window and broken it.

Movement inside the tipped over box surprised me. Was that a cat curled up in a box? Poor thing. It must have been a terrifying night for it. This morning I'd cooked bacon and eggs for the family. Kyle my youngest had not eaten his entire portion. I slid the sliding glass door open and lay his plate on top of a snow drift to see what would happen. It took about ten minutes but soon my two sons and I were watching a beautiful gray stripped tabby eating its breakfast. Twas my first good deed of the year. I knew the next would be heading for the local park and doing some serious sliding.