Wintery Mix

I hear the sleet as it collides with the frozen ground.  I hear the ice as it falls against my house.  I think of the cold, the slippery roads, those who must be out on such nights.  Police men.  Emergency workers. The homeless.

My mind is taken off my thought as my son laughs.  He is happy tonight.  He is spending time with my husband.  The man he calls “Dad”.  This is his second full night home this year.  He arrived back home around 2:30 am, Sunday morning.  My son laughs some more.

The tink-tink of ice falling from the sky plays on like a symphony.   Frozen rain against an assortment of surfaces, near and distant.  Heavy then light.  Music that chills one to the bone should they dare to dawn near to the sound.

I think of my daughter, who is asleep in the other room.  She is warm under her electric blanket.  She is warm with thoughts of my husband being home, keeping her safe. She goes to sleep with a smile on her face.

There is no school tomorrow.  The roads are not safe; the children should be kept safe.  The teacher will sleep in tomorrow.  They will sleep in as the world freezes around them.  Should the sun appear through the rain, the frozen rain, the world will shine around the teacher’s home.  Around my home.

Crystals.  Frozen crystals will hang from roof tops, from car doors, from window units and bird houses.  Branches and windshields, slick with shine.  Tink. Tink. Tink.  Distant and near.

Some where, far far away, ice on the ground is but a dream.  As the heat of summer beats down on them, their world heats up.  While my world is shutting down.  Shutting down only for a moment.

The moment seems long to me.  Days.
In reality, days is but a small moment in time.

My eyes grow heavy as I type.  The laughter winds down.  Soon my son will be in bed, safe and snug.  He too will fall asleep with a smile on his face. Content with the knowledge of his dad being home.  In the morning, he will sleep in. He will sleep while the world turns white out side his window.

Soon I too will fall asleep. I will sleep to the sound of ice falling all around this house.  I will thank my sweet Jesus for the roof over my head that I so complain about.  I thank my sweet Lord for seeing to my needs as I crawl into bed and under my blankets.

And my heart goes out to those who long for such comforts.

I will sleep.
Tink. Tink. Tink.

photo taken from my front door