Cold and Colder

It is 17 degrees out. The only reason that is bearable is that I got to stay home all day, venturing out only once to pick up my oldest son from my sister, Elizabeth, who got him from preschool and took him to lunch at the Eldorado diner (his favorite restaurant) as a treat. He always gets pancakes, and is always very happy when he has alone time with Aunt Lilbit. Our driveway is all but impassable with the snow and ice, so my youngest son and I drove down and got him from her car, and brought him back up. We are up on a hill, surrounded by trees, and the snow is very deep, and looking out the back windows, made me feel like we could be out on a farm somewhere. We played airplane for awhile. I was the only passenger, and was given water before I asked for it which I think would be a nice thing for real airlines to emulate, but I'm not holding my breath, and I was assured there would be tasty treats, but none were forthcoming. The steward kept checking my seat belt and giggling hysterically, and the pilot kept announcing that we were about to take off on a "derecks" flight to Looziana - his favorite place to fly to. I asked the pilot if he would like some popcorn, and that was a big hit.
We made a big bowl of popcorn, and lit a fire, and sat on the couch eating popcorn and talking about school. My oldest got so overcome with how much he actually likes school, that he decided he wanted to go to school tomorrow instead of going to Great Barrington with me and his little brother to spend the weekend with his cousin and aunt. I am speaking at a class at Simon's Rock College tomorrow, (my sister is on faculty there) and then we'll get to have a nice weekend with them - and more cold!! But he came around, and will go with me, once I explained that I can't drive up to do the class, and drive back to get him, and then go back up.
But I respect that he tried.
I just got this picture from the BookMania festival of me with Rick Bragg. What a doll he is. I loved getting to visit with him. Really made me feel like home. Wish I were down there now.