It started snowing yesterday, and this afternoon it picked back up, and now all of a sudden we have nearly two inches on the ground, and it’s still coming down at a pretty good clip. Just a few years ago, if I read these same words I would have laughed and said something like, “What – two inches? So what???” But I am much older and lamer than that now, and the fact is that it almost never snows here in any appreciable amount, so I am kind of excited. Add the fact that I live in the middle of nowhere and the roads SUCK when it snows or gets icy, and I feel like a kid again.

Speaking of which, the neighbor kid (who’s really a polite, smart, well-behaved 10-year-old) rings my doorbell this evening at dusk. It’s like 30 degrees outside and it’s snowing like crazy, and he’s standing in the front lawn as I open the door and peer out, with this crazed-little-kid look on his face (you know, the look they get when they’ve stepped over an invisible line and just can’t seem to make themselves go back). He’s not saying anything, and has a strange look on his face like he's trying to make a decision - or maybe he's battling with one he's already made, so I ask him, “Why are you standing out there in the snow?” The psycho grin grows across his face, and next thing I know, a huge snow/slush ball is hurtling toward me.

I'm standing in my doorway, on the entry floor, no shoes on. Wet ball of snow hits the door frame next to my left shoulder. Ah hah!

It wasn’t until a few seconds later that he realized exactly what he’d done (or maybe he suddenly got to the consequences part of the think-cycle). He spun in the snow, screamed in panic, and ran off.

I found him 5 minutes later, hiding in the trees, crazed again and apparently waiting for me to come find him. He had 5 snowballs at the ready. It was almost dark, but I heard him sneer, “This is WAR!” and he then proceeded to miss me, five times. But it was a good try.

So, for my part I made sure he had plenty of snow down the back of his jacket before we finished, and all was good. And for the record he managed to hit me a few times with his snowball stash in the process. All in all, I think it's safe to say that while I came out on the dryer side of the battle, he won the war.

Cold weather will make you do unusual things, won't it?

Ah, snow.