From sunbathing to sledding

Friday afternoon, I was sunbathing by the pool in Las Vegas.  Today, I am home to a beautiful blanket of snow.  Don't we live in a wonderful and beautiful world where the weather can be so different less than 800 miles apart?  I have much to discuss in regards to the road trip we just took, and the road trip we took in October, and the one we took last year in May for that matter, when I was pregnant with Preston.  I promise to get to it one of these days.

But today, I want to concentrate on the blanket of pure white snow.  My emotions toward snow could easily be swayed.  Just earlier, I was watching a couple kids sliding down the greenbelt which we can clearly see from our backyard deck.  I remember watching this very same thing last December, with Preston in my arms, telling him how one day, we'd go sliding down that little hill.  It would be effortless to cry thinking about this.  And it would be understandable - another dreamed slashed.  But, I feel peaceful today.  It may be due to the fact that we are back home.  It could be the result of being on vacation, even if it is the last day.  It's possible that it just hasn't hit me yet.  Deep down though, I know it's because of the snow.

The drive wasn't without any stress.  There was a lot of ice on the highway, on the passes, in the mountains.  Snow and ice and frigid temperatures.  But as you can attest from the picture above, the scenery was filled with serenity and peacefulness.  Smooth white layers of snow on the ground.  Powdery flakes on the evergreens.  Virtually transparent clouds floated in a bright blue sky.  Occasionally a gust of wind would hit the fir trees, and a mist of snow would dance amongst the trees.  It was beautiful, and reminded me of all the times I watched the snow fall as I swayed my baby boy to sleep.  All the times, I showed him the snow, and explained to him what it felt like.  The brisk air made the tip of my nose cold.  It's the first thing that gets cold when I am feeling chilly.  The same was true for Preston, not that I let his nose stay cold for very long.  It was an easy indicator that he just might need another layer.  My nose getting cold, is an instant reminder of how connected my son and I were.  How close we were.  He was my son after all.  No denying it.

His birthday nears, now 3 days away.  Oh the plans I had.  I do hope that the #SpreadHappinessForPreston movement is successful.  On Friday, I had played my last spin of a slot machine and a mere $0.30 remained.  I decided to leave this $0.30 on a random slot machine, with one of Preston's cards, hoping that this made someone smile, or maybe brought someone luck and gave them a big jackpot, or even, enough money to last a while for someone to have fun with.  Who knows if it did or not.  I will imagine that it did.  No one is there to tell me otherwise, so why not?  I also left a nice tip for housekeeping with a Preston card.  If nothing else, perhaps they will also share happiness with someone else, or maybe his picture made someone smile.  Whatever the case may be, any smile that is brought on thanks to my son, is well worth it to me.