On the Feast of Stephen...

Our Day

In Poetry:

The Davis family looked out

On the feast of Stephen,

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even.

Gusty blew the wind last night

And the frost was cruel,

When Paul trudged out to the shed

To gather winter fuu-ell.

**

"Hither, brother, stand by me

If thou know'st it, in telling

Yon plow driver, who is he?

Where and what his dwelling?"

"Bro, he lives a good league hence

On t'other side of highway

But drives on past our front ten fence

As it is one good by-y-way."

**

"Bring that man, upon his plow

 Shovels, brothers, hither.

Thou and I, we need him now;

Someone bear him thither."

We've dug and pushed and pulled and slid

Ten autos from the ditches.

Tell yon plow-man now we bid

Save us from these gli-i-tches.

**

The Davis children, forth they went

Forth they went together

Through the rude wind's wild lament

And the bitter weather.

"Paul, the snow is falling now

And the wind blows stronger

Fail our heart, we know not how,

We can go no lo-o-nger."

**

Our toes are froze, our noses blue,

And, then, as luck would have it

Yon furnace, it is broken, too,

Our dwelling is no respite.

"Mark my footsteps, whining dude,

Tread thou in them boldly

Thou shalt find the wint'ry mood

Freeze thy blood less co-oh-ldly."

**

In their brother's steps they trod

Where the snow lay dinted

Heat was in the very sod

Which their big brother printed.

Pulling cars from snowy ditch

Leaves not this man faint-hearted

Rice Krispy treats and chocolate

Will surely get him star-ar-ted.

**

Met they the plowman on the hill

Met they the plowman cheerful

And he and they with  hearty will

Didst clear the driveway fearful.

Furnace Repairman whence he came

And made it up the driveway
And in the furnace, fixed a  flame
That melted chilling woes a-way.
**

Therefore, Christian friends, be sure,

Wealth or rank possessing,

When trouble knocks upon the door

Behooves thou to find blessing.

Comfort comes in warmth of heart
And muscles strong and willing
And young men bull-headed, blythe, and smart
A movie date fulfil-ill-ing...

In Prose:

Yep. In a nutshel (coconut-sized): A snowstorm Tuesday through Wednesday only left about five inches over all -- but drifted into deep hills on the driveway (again). Since all the big kids are home, we have a kazillion drivers, a carlot full of cars in our driveway, and plenty of places everyone wants to go and things we want to do while we're all together.

So, in making the attempts to get out, the big kids have been shuffling cars back and forth, making them accessible by parking them by the mailbox on the main road which is plowed by the town snowplow.  In this herculean effort, I'm told the children have pulled different cars out of the ditch and unstuck them from ruts in our long drive at least nine or ten times in the last three days.

And we've had the driveway plowed twice -- but the wind keeps covering it back over.

And, the furnace broke down last night, when it was blowing gales of about 50 mph, and the windchill temps sank into the subzero range. (Brr! Was it ever cold getting out from under the blankets this morning!)

But, all is well. With the wood stove going, and all the new games, books, and toys -- particularly the Wii the children got from the grandparents -- hardly anyone noticed the incovenience. Got coffee, hot chocolate, and oatmeal into everyone's bellies first thing... Had a good visit.  Then, fueled with the incentive of an afternoon in town, the big kids plunged into the snow again to get a  vehicle free for an excursion. Seriously. I think they enjoyed the adventure and the chance to flex their muscles in front of wives, girlfriends, and sisters. They got all the cars out of the way in time for the plowman to clear the snow, who came in time for the furnace repairman to get up to the house.  They were both celebrities when they finally arrived.

And now: the heat is pumping to warm the house, Theresa and Catherine are playing tennis on the wii, Gabriel is rolling around and around the house on his new little bike, Dan's putting soup on the stove, and the big kids are off to the movies.

And as soon as I finish telling you all about it,  I'm off to fold the mountain of clothes that's piled up since the beginning of the week. Blessings to all! Hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday so far!