S'now Panic... it's just a blizzard

The blizzard is coming, the blizzard is coming...
Those 4 words send a chill through many a heart, send people scurrying out to the stores to stock up on necessities, hurry people along, and make people look over their shoulders as though they could expect to see the storm looming on the horizon, inching ever nearer.

But this is North Dakota. The motto here is "You don't like the weather? Wait 5 minutes, it'll change." These storms come every year, and there are some times that I feel like I'm watching a video play over and over, with people doing the same things. The panic on their faces when they realize the storm is coming, the frantic movements in the stores as they shove things in their carts, and the short tempers when the lines don't move fast enough. As though 5 more minutes in line will cause them to never get home...

Don't think I'm always immune to all this going on around me, though. I went out last night and bought a few things to tide us over for the weekend. Toilet paper, milk, pizzas... you know, the necessities. But I'm ok with a storm coming. Really, as long as it's going to be over the weekend when I don't have to worry about my kids being on their way to or from school, I don't have to go to work, and my husband's 4-wheel drive is ready to go in case of emergencies, I'm good with being on weekend lockdown. It's really ok to spend a couple of days home with the kids, huddled in front of the window, watching the storm whistle past.

The kids and I go into "stormy weather" mode. This means snacky-foods, movies playing all day, and snuggling under blankets in the living room, giggling over whose feet are the coldest.

We bring the dogs into the room with us, and wrestle with them and with each other, sending the dogs into a frenzy, cause they don't know who to be mad at, or even if they should be mad.

And when night falls, and everything hushes, the children are in bed, my husband is sleeping, the dogs are quiet, and I am content. It's been a good day. Everyone is safe, and I can hear the hush settle around me like a blanket. It is warm, soft and comforting.

So let the blizzard come. I am ready.