Tiny Flecks of Color

Today it is a combination of sleet and snow.

Today Iowa woke up again to snow plows and windshields that required more attention than sleeping in and still getting to work on time would allow.

I would know.

Today my car had snow drifts on both sides because it had to be parked on the street because people in my apartment complex don't understand what the yellow lines mean and there wasn't any room for my pretty little prius last night.

Today my dog wanted to drag me around and sniff out whatever lay 3 to 4 inches below the Earth's slushy white disguise.

Today under my fashionable boots were grocery clad extremities. I was irritated with the snow.

I wore bags on my feet and felt stupid.

Today, I thought about my Mom and how she put bags on our feet when we went ice skating on the pond behind our house. How she always had a huge pot of hot chocolate warming on the stove for us when we came back in.

I wore bags on my feet. I felt loved.


Today, I thought about the homeless man I happened upon digging through our dumpster. I asked if he would let me make him a sandwich or something. He answered me with a story about his life, how he came to be homeless, and how he survives the cold: socks, a bag to keep water and wind out, and then another layer of socks.

Today I had bags on my feet to avoid the frustration of wet socks and cold feet. Not for survival.  

I wore bags on my feet. And I was thankful.