Yuki ga Furimasu (snow falls)

Finally, it feels like winter! For the past week or so, it has been snowing a little bit at a time. At first, it was just a hint of snow, a peek at what is to come. The snow would fall almost secretly in the middle of the night. Ridge and I would open the curtains each morning to determine if there was enough for him to shovel. Finally, a few days ago, the snow began in earnest. I came home the other day and saw that our front looked like a snow shovel store. Aaron had pulled out all the different snow removal devices from our garage and was experimenting with each in turn. As you can see, we have gotten quite a bit of snow over the past few days. I am often told, however, that this is only the begining.

On Tuesday, if you remember, I only work half a day. Usually I come home and then walk to the pre-school to pick up Ridge. I waded through the ankle deep (or more) snow, looking at the other housed to compare our snow shoveling to theirs. Several people had told me that in Nishokoppe, it is not only the driveway and sidewalk that are shoveled. Instead, as much of the snow as possible is removed from the front. Of course, as I walked, I noticed that while this philosophy was apparent at some homes, it was certainly not the rule. There was something else that I noticed, too. Everyone I saw shoveling was a woman. When I thought about it, it made sense. Their husbands were at work, so the housewife must keep up with the shoveling. For those of you in Texas, perhaps I should point out that if one waits too long to shovel, you will throw your back out lifting heavy loads of snow. It's better to shovel often, as the snow is lighter then. So, here are all these women clearning snow, adding yet another task to their day. It's amazing to me how hard the women here (at least in rural Japan) work. Considering the work that goes into cooking, laundry, housecleaning, etcl, no one had better dare to say housewives don't have work to do.

Holt and Ridge, are of course delighted to have snow to play in. Ridge and Aaron already built their first snowman of the season. Today, Ridge was trying out some kiddie skis he found in the garage, sliding down the mound of snow that Aaron has shoveled out of the way of the drive. He also dug out one of the many sleds housed in our shed. Now, when the three guys walk to school in the morning, Aaron just pulls the boys in the sled. Apparently, this is what all the other parents do, unless they choose to drive. It's only about three blocks away, so we don't feel like we can justify driving, not to mention the fact that three days a week I have the car in the morning.

Here are some pictures for you:
Ridge and his snowman
Solo snowman
Our house at 8:30 a.m.
Our street
A view of the elementary school playground
A view from the second floor of the elementary school
Ridge bundled up for outside