The sun is gone. For days now, he has been invisible. The sky has been a blanket of gray, sometimes dark and menacing, sometimes light and soft, but always gray. An impenetrable blanket of gray.
The snow has been falling on and off since Christmas, and without interruption for 4 days, a continuous soft, silent shedding from the sky. The flakes dance down, changing only their appearance, sometimes fat cotton balls, sometimes tiny flecks. But they continue to fall, covering the ground with its own blanket, this one white with patches of gray.
It seems impossible that we ever wore shorts and sandals. It seems ridiculous that we ever lathered ourselves with suntan lotion to guard against burns instead of moisturizing cream to minimize the chafing and eczema. But yet the evidence remains, in the dusty flip flops thrown carelessly in the corners of the kids' closets and the ruffly bikini top Juliette put on to dress up yesterday.
I wish I'd thought to take the time to put my face up to the sky the last time it was blue. Instead of running to finish errands or pick up the kids from school, I should have taken a minute to give the sun the chance to gift my cheeks with its winter's kiss.
But I didn't.
And so now I dream of a day when I will see the sun again, when the weather will stop being so extreme, and the sky will shed its blanket of gray and give me back my blues so the world can shine a little brighter once again.
Tonight's Sunday Scribblings prompt is EXTREME. It seems the weather in Europe is as rough as it has been here. Head on over to see what others did with the prompt.
7 comments:
Great post! I can feel that sun shining on my face right now :)
I am so there - I do not do well when the sun doesn't shine. I can take the cold and even snow but I need sun - hurry up sun!!
I'm so there too. I'd be happy just to have some sun, even if it is freezing.
Your post is timely. A little while ago, I went into the living room and found our dog splayed out in a patch of sunlight on the rug. There was just room enough for me next to her, and I lay down and snuggled for a few minutes. It felt sooooo good! The sun is shining today in northern New Jersey, but it occurs to me that I walked for an hour this morning without lifting my face up to meet the sun's rays. How preoccupied I was with my thoughts, and burrowing my nose into my scarf to keep it warm. Thanks for the reminder to soak up the sun when it's out for those days when it's not. Have you ever read Frederick by Leo Lionni? It's one of my favorite kids' books, and perfect for this time of year...
You put my feelings into words far more effectively than I could have done. Spring is so far away, buried somewhere under a blanket of English winter snow!
some sun is always a great thing!
I am sorry for the late arrival to Sunday Scribblings but I had to pay you a visit :)
Happy SS
Extreme 'Caution'
I at the other side of the world have been cursing the heat, but it has been a little cooler the past few days. You make the snow sound so pretty the way you write about its falling, and I know it is, but that cold, na ah.
Post a Comment