First Snowfall!

If you did not look out your window between eight and nine o’clock last night, you probably missed NW Arkansas’s first snowfall. It started as a light mist, got harder, and those droplets turned into very wet flakes. It was only a handful, a sifting, and it melted off quickly. This is really funny because Sara and Nathan predicted the first snowfall the 15th and 16th. They missed it by only a few days!

Last night, Nathan and I became house builders. His school has an annual tradition of inviting children and parents to make a gingerbread house. His parents were occupied, so I went with my grandson. He was really happy about getting to make one of those beautiful gingerbread houses everyone sees around Christmas.

The first thing he said as he glanced in the window of the cafeteria, on the way to the front door was, “That’s not gingerbread! That’s Graham Crackers!”

And it was. But he got to use as many crackers as he wanted for his house as well as a bowl of mortar (icing) and many candy embellishments, M&Ms, mini-marshmallows, etc. Well, he and I grabbed our trowels which were in the shape of a plastic knife and spoon and began building.

Nathan had definite ideas about how his house should look. Whether due to earthquakes, tornadoes, or a faulty foundation, our structure fell a couple of times but did we become discouraged? No! We reorganized, added more mortar and re-built, like all dedicated builders do. When we finished, that gingerbread house might not have won a lot of mentions in House Beautiful or Southern Homes but, hey! It was ours. The TV show on tiny houses has nothing on this beauty.

A lot of the mortar was on us, but it was a sweet problem, soon disposed of. With utmost care, we carried the creation to the car. It arrived safely at Nathan’s own people-sized house. It may not have been actual gingerbread but I’ll bet there’s not another house like it anywhere!

With my third cup of coffee, I look forward to the coming days. Christmas arrives one week from today; can you believe it?

Good and happy news yesterday from my friend Norma. Her book club is going to read The Cemetery Club. Wow! That is grand. Shipping on all books is still free from Pennell Publishers and the second audio book is under way. Grave Shift will soon be audible as is The Cemetery Club. Next in line is Best Left Buried.  As my publisher is fond of saying, “Onward!”

With Christmas only a week away, I may have to re-read (this time uncritically) the only book I’ve written which takes place in December, Moonlight Can Be Murder.

Does the first snow contain something magical (I’ve heard that it does) maybe a blessing, or an added excitement about Christmas? Or is it only my imagination?