Throughout the night, two sisters had kept the snowplow at work, trying in vain to keep vital driveways passable. With the publishing house closed for a snow day, and the Infirmary staff unable to come in (roads are off-limits to all but emergency and public service vehicles), we all put on extra hats for the day.
One crew took up the snow shovels: back door, front door, nurses' door, dining room roof (yes, the roof: it is terribly prone to leaking after major snowfalls). Sisters are taking the place of the night nurse on the senior sisters' floor, and volunteers were needed to prepare the meals.I spent the morning in kitchen, helping to get lunch on the table. (I'll give you my kale salad recipe if you like. It was a big hit.) At a certain point this morning, Sister Madonna found a supply of strawberry syrup. That gave me an idea. I took two dessert dishes and ran to a little-used exit to scoop up some of that pristine snow. Drizzled with syrup, it was a perfect New Orleans-style snowball. Except that, unlike any New Orleans snowball I've ever known, it stayed pretty well frozen for over five minutes--in the kitchen!
Tomorrow is shaping up to be more of the same, though the storm is supposed to be subsiding (and the traffic restrictions end at 1 a.m.). We are keeping all our city emergency personnel in our prayers, and remembering in a special way those families who have suffered catastrophic losses in the storm surges on the Cape.
Are you in an area affected by Winter Storm "Juno"? What has your experience been? Did you do anything fun with the enforced day off? What would you have done, those of you in warmer climes?
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