Yesterday started our first *real* snow day in about a year. It started snowing around 10am and continued through the day. Even now, looking out the kitchen window as I type this, there is a light snow falling.
When it snows like this (snow being an oddity in Nashville) it typically makes me think of home. I would think of going to Chinguacousy (pronounced Ching-couse-sea) Park in Brampton, ON where I grew up, sledding down the giant hill on a bright yellow plastic disc; Dad, tirelessly, dragging our sleds and discs up the hill again and again and again. I would think of making snowmen and snowballs with my brothers when we were all still very little. I would think of bundling up in layer upon layer, so as not to feel the cold, to play outside for hours; only to hurry back inside, cheeks red and cold, to drink something warm.
But this time, amid all this snow, I'm thinking of Gordon. He has been in Canada since Monday and will be coming home tonight. It was only 6 days, true, but having spent every day and night together since April 9, 2005 the past 6 days have felt incredibly long. Having him gone has made me realize how much he makes this house feel like a home, how warm he makes it feel, how safe I feel with him in it and how complete.
As I type this he is driving through Maine, to catch a flight in Baltimore, to bring him home to me. Even though he'll be here in mere hours, and I've missed him since I dropped him off at the airport, I miss him a little bit more during this snowfall.
Nashville, and our quiet little street, is always (on some level) lovely to me. But when the snow started to fall it became beautiful and serene. I wish he could have seen it and shared it with me. I wished that he was standing beside me yesterday as I stood at our front door watching the snowfall. And this morning, I wish he could have heard the silence. I wish he could have seen our dogs when I first opened the door to let them play outside this morning. I wish he could have laughed with me as I watched them run around, seemingly confused with the sudden change in weather; laughed as their little paws slipped on the icy road and made tiny footprints in our lawn. And I wished, most of all, that he was here when I came inside with four snowy little dogs at my feet, to help us get warm.
But he'll be home soon.
And even though it's still so very cold and snowy outside, I can already feel it growing warmer with each hour that passes.