Balance and the Winter Weather Surprise

It was mostly sunny, cold, and windless this morning when I headed out for this week's yoga class. A full class concentrated on variations on one of my favorite poses, the Warrior pose. It's a basic standing pose, and for once, I'm actually quite good at it. Other than I can't really bind, I actually felt really good about the pose.

I got my first of several surprises of the day when I left class and headed for the library. While the thrift shop is now officially closed, it would seem that the Collingswood Variety Store has been (temporarily?) resurrected. There was a sign in the door that said they're open from 12-4 most days. I'm wondering if someone bought them, or they're just trying to sell off the last of their stock?

The library wasn't terribly busy, possibly due to the cold. I just put away and organized DVDs. Went home early. By this point, it was getting cloudier and colder, and I had other things I wanted to do.

High on that list of "things I wanted to do" at home was make the Cherry-Coconut Bar Cookies. I love coconut, and for several years I tried different Christmas cookies that featured coconut before falling in love with these. They're made the same as Lemon Squares, with a pastry bottom that's baked first, but the filling is made from coconut and cherries instead of lemon. I made sure to grease the bottom of the pan; the recipe in The Betty Crocker Cooky Book says not to, but the last time I didn't, I couldn't get the darn things out of the pan. They came out beautifully, flaky and sweet and very, very pink!

By the time I headed to work, the clouds had gathered...and they had the pearly-whiteness of snow. A few flakes were just starting to tumble down as I rode to work, but I assumed it was a passing flurry and thought nothing of it. We weren't supposed to get any kind of snow.

At least, I thought nothing of it...until I saw quite clearly when I peeked out the windows of the lobby about an hour and a half later that it not only continued to snow hard, but it was sticking. The Acme was on-and-off busy, surprising for such crazy weather. Considering the way everyone was fussing, I'm surprised anybody was out at all once the snow started. I have the feeling my customers didn't like being taken by surprise; no one on any local forecast said anything about even a dusting of snow.

I briefly debated calling Dad or Uncle Ken for a ride home. Then people started giving reports of the long, long line of traffic on the Black Horse Pike and all the accidents caused by people who wouldn't go slow on the slippery roads. Obviously, this night was not made for cars. I treated myself to Edy's Peppermint Ice Cream (they started tomorrow's sale early) and walked home.

I'm glad I did. The snow was gone by the time I got out. We only got a dusting, but it still looked lovely against all the Christmas lights. I had no problem walking. I slipped slightly twice and had a close call with a glossy sign that had fallen over on the Oaklyn ramp. Otherwise, I walked at my normal speed with absolutely no problems. (Given the black ice, I wasn't going to chance getting on the bike.) In fact, it was so nice, I took a shortcut through Audubon Park and got my walk to admire the lights in after all.

There was a package waiting for me when I got home. It was from Lauren. I decided to have the crock-pot chicken stew I'd started for dinner and wait until I got online to open my present from her. Good thing - turns out there was more to the package. I had to pull on my boots after my shower and go get the rest of it, which I hadn't seen on the porch.

It was worth it in the end. Lauren is the most wonderful best friend in the whole world. She made me copies of the remaining Bowery Boys movies with Huntz Hall and Stanley Clements and two books on the Bowery Boys, From Bowery to Broadway and The Films of the Bowery Boys. The former was kindly signed by its author, Len Getz. She also gave me two more movies, Angels With Dirty Faces and They Made Me a Criminal, the new WebKinz Ice Dragon, a program to make covers for home-made CDs and DVDs, and tons of gift cards to eBay, JC Penney, Barnes and Noble, FYE, and the Vermont Country Store.

Oh, and the beautiful Frostina the Ice Dragon will be either getting a snow room or a Christmas room (or maybe a combination of the two).