The weekend snow sent three Larson boys into orbit.
Two had homework to tackle on Sunday afternoon, but excess energy forced Greg to kick them outside for an hour. That hour turned into three.
By the time I returned home at 6 p.m., they’d built three forts in the backyard. I think Aaron’s started as a snowman, but turned into a fort out of self-defense.
Before they could play, however, they had to fight George, our 125-plus-pound mutt. Aaron was the first one outside and quickly knocked on the back door, his hands full with the start of a snowman base.
“Can you lock George in the pen?” he begged.
“No,” I said, “but give me his food bucket and I’ll fill it.”
As Aaron leaned down to grab the bucket, George kept pushing him farther away. If I didn’t know better, I’d think George was boxing out for a rebound.
Soon, George was chowing down and leaving Aaron alone. When the other two boys joined him, they took the smart approach — claiming the backyard for their own and locking the gate to keep George in the side yard. When I came outside, there was George, flopped down in the snow, watching his boys.
He was just happy to have company. After all, for a week, he and Lucky had spent their days warming up in the barn.
Sunday’s snow was as perfect as it could be. It didn’t disrupt life too much; travel wasn’t that dangerous.
It was warm enough to play in comfortably. It packed well and there was enough to build massive structures.
On the way home from church, we enjoyed seeing all the snowmen being built. Some of them were pictured in Monday’s Gazette.
Once we turned on to our road, we discovered neighbors out working. At least three had their tractors and blades out clearing our road while they worked on their driveways. By sundown, the county grader operators had been through moving the snow away, which meant school buses had no reason to be delayed.
Yep, perfection for parents: A snow day without missing school.