Cal and I had a great President's Day together yesterday, waiting for the storm. We went to lunch and grabbed some new boots for Neel (Cal inherited his dad's... how weird is that?). On our way home we constantly scanned the skies, watching for flurries and decided to stop by our river to see what the water looked like. For the first time ever in my decade+ here, the edges of the water was frozen. It was a stunning (if cold!) sight to see. Virginia is temperate. While we do get snowstorms, we don't get the days on days of cold that it takes to freeze our open bodies of water. At least not here along the coast.

As Cal walked along the tiny beach that's created at low tide (see the picture on the right), we both noticed some movement up against the wall. It turns out that there was a duck trapped in the frozen waves. One of his wings was completely frozen and the other about 3/4 submerged. Cal grabbed a stick and gently freed the ice around first one wing. As soon as he did the bird, who'd been moving slowly, seemed to come to life. The other wing took a bit more time, but within moments, the duck hopped up and out of the hole in which he'd been trapped. We stood there, holding our breath. Moments later the duck bee-lined for the water's edge, stopping to rest for a bit and then stopping again to drink as soon as he was at some open water (who knows how long he'd been trapped?). That boy is my hero.

The snow was just starting to fall as Cal and I stood and watched as our duck (that's what we were calling him now) made his way into the water and seemed to become even more energized. We waited while he bobbed quietly, and as soon as he dove under and came back up shaking and spreading his wings, we had to trust that he'd be all right.

After that the storm could come.

We watched the Westminster Kennel Club Show last night, and can you imagine the celebration when the beagle won best in group! Much cheering in this house! Cal and I took a walk before bed, after the snow had been falling for awhile. That's just the best, isn't it? Quiet night, no cars. Gently falling snow and the hopes of more to come. We got our five day weekend and our winter wonderland to boot. Greedy Lauren is ready for more.