“It’s snowing,” I say to Ephraim as I point outside. “Do you see the snow?”
He runs to the window to look out. “I see SNOW!” He shouts. “Let’s make a snowman!”
“…Well,” I hesitate. Not because it’s far too cold for my Southern skin, not because we don’t really have the cold-weather gear necessary for playing in below-freezing temperatures, but because it’s only spitting snowflakes that melt as soon as they touch the bare ground in that lovable Georgia habit that still caused almost all the schools in our area to close for the day. There is probably no milk at the grocery store, either.
I dig for heavy coats in a forgotten box of children’s clothes, tucked away together because of their general disuse. I dress the boys in fleece jammies under a couple of layers of normal clothes, with the coats on top. Clive can hardly move in all the padding. He fusses at me as he tries to climb down the stairs and then fusses harder when I pick him up to carry him.
Ephraim dashes to the door. “Let’s make a SNOWMAN!” He says again. “Like Winnie-The-Pooh!” We go outside together to where the flakes are drifting through the air.
I’m not sure if Clive even notices the snow falling around him. He joyfully scoots across the brick walkway and out into the yard, then back again to the porch, then out to the yard again. Ephraim dashes out with a squeal of glee to run to the end of the yard and back. But we’re only outside for a few minutes when Ephraim decides he’s had enough. “I want to go inside, now! It’s cold.” I share his sentiment, but try for one picture of his brief excursion in a Southern snow.
“Can you say ‘cheese’?” I ask.
Unfortunately, his “cheese” was already frozen.
We head to the door, and I stop to pick Clive up along the way. He bursts into tears as we pass through the door and into the warm house. He probably could have happily stayed out for an hour. Such is the life when you’re the littlest.
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Happy New Year!
As our due date for boy #3 approaches, I will be taking a break from regular sessions, but continuing to post to this blog, the tone of which will therefore continue to reflect photography of a more personal nature. For that reason, I am dropping the “personal” tagline from my posts, as it seems somewhat superfluous.
Photos taken with a Canon 1DS mk II and Tamron 28-75mm 2.8