DEBORAH CROMBIE: I know some of you have already had more snow than you wanted to see this early in the year!! But we just got some of our firewood delivered, a cold front came through last night, and I'm thinking about how nice it would be if it snowed and I could curl up on the sofa in front of a roaring fire, with a good book and some hot chocolate. (If I didn't have to work, but this is pretend.)
Snow days are a big deal for us in north Texas so we always try to make the most of them--a couple of inches and we don't venture out of the house! We got snowed in on Christmas Day a few years ago and it was the best Christmas ever.
Unfortunately, there's no snow in our immediate future, but I can dream! The fire, the books, maybe some movies with my hubs. Cuddles with the dogs and the cats. Hot chocolate, yum, a special treat! Popcorn. A good soup staying warm on the stove. I'd even listen to "Let It Snow." PS the photo above is somebody's else cabin in Austria. I can only wish...
What's your dream snow day? (No shoveling allowed!)
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: For the past forty or so years, snow has meant I have to work grueling and freezing hours doing live shots as a reporter, eating granola bars and trying to keep my fingers warm. Now it's less likely, crossing (still warm) fingers. And I remember so well the very first day we had a huge storm and I thought--oh no! And then I realized: I can stay home! YAAY!
So I'm easy: my idea of a perfect snow day is when the power stays on, frankly. When it's all pretty and snowy, that's great, but when you are freezing in the dark and fear to open the fridge so the food won;t spoil and you count the hours until your freezer self-defrosts, that's no fun. So, yay. Electricity.
DEBS: Hank, our scary thing is ice. We seldom get enough snow to cause a power outage (although even half an inch can shut down our roads) but we get sleet and freezing rain. If enough ice coats the power lines, we're in big trouble. Hence, the newly delivered firewood. Always good to have, just in case.
RHYS BOWEN: Snow? Wait a minute--Oh, it's that white stuff that I see on top of mountains. But doesn't exist where I live, either in Northern California (unless I drive up to the Sierra to ski) or in Arizona. I have a confession. I don't like to be cold. I didn't mind when I still skied, which burns zillions of calories, but now that my pace is slower I'll look at snow from a distance. But I presume we'll have some rain days in Marin County where I've just arrived home for December. Rain days will probably involve putting on Christmas music and wrapping presents.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Rhys, I'm coming to stay with you in your Arizona guest house ALL WINTER. It's just the beginning of December, and I've already had to have my driveway plowed three times. I like a white Christmas, but a white week-before-Thanksgiving is a bit much.
That being said, I do love being cozy at home in a snowstorm (with Hank's caveat that the power stay on.) It's not quite a thrilling as it was when I had three schoolchildren and a teacher at home - then, snowdays felt like national holidays! It's the perfect opportunity to take things slow - no one is running any errands, you don't have to return local calls because no one's in any of the offices, and it's the perfect time to simmer stew for hours on top of the woodstove, which will come in handy if the power DOES go out!
HALLIE EPHRON: My ideal snow day is someone else shoveling my walk. The garden looks so beautiful with a gloppy wet snow clinging to everything. But it's a slippery dangerous mess and I do hate dealing with it. And being cold is not fun, either. First-world problems in an era when it's still cold enough to have snow. I'll stop complaining now.
JENN McKINLAY: Living in central AZ, this is not really a thing for me. But if I had a snow day, I would want a fire in the fireplace, soup in the crockpot and a loaf of bread in the oven, a pile of books by my elbow, and my family all safe and sound while making a ruckus bangoing in and out of the house for snowball fights, sledding, and, of course, building a snow family. Perfection.
HANK: WITH electricity, Jenn. Trust me.
READERS, snowed in yet, wherever you are? Everyone okay out there? And the big questions--Hot chocolate, or mulled cider?
And just as a reminder that not every perfect snow day needs to be in a cabin in the woods, one of my favorite books.
And if you've never read THE SNOWY DAY, don't wait for snow, go do it now!
