My Igloo........

Baby it's cold outside!
Over 24 inches of icy glacier like snow outside my door...I think I saw a few penguins skate on by.....Might be an Eskimo's wet dream....but more of a nightmare for my poor hubby and sons who had to shovel out somewhat of a path, and dig out 2 cars....

It's been 2 days of being held hostage by Mother Nature, and apparently no talks of a negotiation are in the works. Two days went by and still our neighborhood has yet to welcome a plow. Nothing. Our block is one deep, slick, densely iced up road that swerves into a new street at each bend without breaking a line....one continuous curvy perpendicular line from one major roadway to another. All I need is a luge and I'm set......
Seriously though, a block that is otherwise safe, now is a frosted slip and slide of a disaster just waiting to happen..... get the popcorn...and the cell phone....I got front row seats.....

Still, in it's North Pole way, it's quite beautiful. The colors of the sky bounce of the white of the snow just like the ocean reflects the summer sky.......every house wears the same white uniform of snowy roof, thick layers of snow lining porches, steps and banisters......Christmas lights on trees glowing through the windows and colorful outdoor lights outlining the homes shine bright....
Gabe tells me it looks just like Christmas now....he is aware of what it's supposed to look like, the ornaments, the tree, the stockings, the holly and mistletoe, the bows, the sparkling paper,...Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus, the Peanuts......he is aware of what it's supposed to smell and taste like...the cookies, the hot chocolate, the candy canes, cinnamon.....he is aware of what it's supposed to sound like...the music, jingle bells, the rustle of the wrapping and unwrapping of presents......For him Christmas has finally become a complete sensory experience....An understanding that Christmas is so layered it becomes a feeling.......
And for me, after so many years, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas simply because little by little I'm learning to exhale as my son is taking in the world around him and learning how to make sense of it in his own way........

Every year after diagnosis my son Will would ask Santa for a cure for Autism and for Alzheimers.
Every year I have continued to ask for the same thing, except my letters were not addressed to the North Pole, they were addressed to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue......Perhaps one day an elf without lobbyist affiliations will take it seriously.........

in the meantime...
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....NOT!!!!
I'm dreaming of a sandy warm Christmas.......mine, it'll be white.....white....white.....and maybe we'll be able to get out for Christmas.....if the plow ever comes!!!!!!!!