Let it snow, let it snow, <br>let it snow…<br>

For the first time since I’ve lived off the grid, I resented being snowed in. Ordinarily I consider it a God-given vacation, brew a huge pot of tea and have fun. Last week I felt like a she-coyote with her foot caught in a trap, and howled my dismay at the snow-filled clouds. Last week I ‘just couldn’t” be snowed in.

Kee needed his last hep-B vaccination before he could return to school, I hadn’t been to the grocery store in awhile, and we were down to 2 gallons of drinking water. I had work to do. Readers, you know the litany.

So I had my little fit, then sat on my front step and petted my two big cats and accepted my own responsibility for my situation. I’ve certainly had the proper training for living out in the middle of nowhere. But I broke all the rules. I left home before a predicted snowstorm without bringing any firewood inside. Not only hadn’t I chopped enough to last for a few days, but the little I had was blanketed under a foot and a half of snow.

And then I got up and did what most everyone I know does. Make do. I chopped some wood, stoked a fire and brought in more wood to dry, started melting snow and was grateful for the supply of commodity beans. Two hours after the fit, the house was warm, beans were simmering (I even found a can of pork!) and I was well into one of the books I’ve been putting off “for a rainy day.” All of those chores that I “simply had to do” were put on the back shelf. I remembered to be grateful for the snow, because we’ve not had a good snow out at my camp for a couple of years. Once again, life looked pretty darned good.

One thing about being snowed in without electricity—you have a lot of time to think. I thought of my in-laws and friends who’ve lived on the reservation their entire lives, of the Bennett Freeze residents and the elderlies who live miles from the nearest hard road. I like to think they’d all have gotten a good laugh at the little tantrum I threw in my front yard because my silly little turtle of a Honda Civic wasn’t going to transport me to some task I believed more important than appreciating a good healthy snowstorm. Sorry, I’ve no pictures to illustrate, but those who know me well probably have a pretty good picture anyway.

— S.J. Wilson

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