It's snowing! beneeci'!

ben-nah-ah-chih -- Arapaho for 'it's snowing'. This picture is from two days ago, but right now the scene is very similar -- gloomy half-lit slate-gray sky, tiny flakes falling outside the window. I'm building a humongous snow slide on the back deck with the jittery overload of energy that results from never doing anything other than sitting in front of a computer screen moving squiggles around all day. As soon as I add the current snowfall to my slide-to-be heap, I'll post a pic of that too. Another several inches of very dry snow have fallen -- some of it fine, some fluffy, all magical somehow. The glory of snow days in elementary school must engrain such strong happy associations in our minds that even an extra hour of commute time doesn't sour the joy at the first sight of white through the blinds in the morning...

Momentum of Mediocrity

My stomach twists again at another decision to join the faceless
the maze of fences in my backyard --
the soccermom utopia of my neighborhood --
the constant disappointment that we can't afford some new unnecessary thing --

This is not what I believe in.
This is not what I work for.
This is not who I am.

When does the weight of compromise become too insidious to ignore?
When did I agree to a lifetime indentured to posessions I don't believe in?
How do I cancel that contract without losing the one who makes my life worthwhile at all?

I don't;
I swallow it again.
Leave the television on.
Leave.