A Snow Job

           The world turned white on Christmas Eve when a blizzard hit Oklahoma. We woke Christmas morning to a few inches of white laid like a blanket over the farm. Everything brown and dead was covered with clean, bright snow that made the farm into a pristine wonderland.

Noone went out, except to the barn to give some feed and hay to the cows, horses, and donkeys, and to break the ice in the water trough. The lanscape was treacherous because of a layer of ice under the snow. It was beautiful though. All the farm junk was hidden. You know the old car, the two broken down mowers and the derelict tractor.

All the large family mess was hidden– the new puppy’s trail of chewed up destruction, the bike a grandson left lying, the remains of the brush pile burn, the lawn chairs, the pothole on the driveway, neon yellow water hose, the flower pots that the wind blew from the porch, etc. The brown grass, the dead weeds, the leafless  shrubs–covered.

Have you ever been snowed? Ever pulled a “snow job?” I remember when my oldest daughter Del was an adolescent , she tried one on me. Her bedroom was a fright and I drew my line in the sandwich. Until the room was clean, she would get no food–no lunch; and if it took her too long, no supper.  Well, Del slouched to her room and sprinted out just a few minutes later. I went toinspect never expecting to find under her bed a clean floor. I opened the closet not expectingto find clothes hung neatly , shoes lined up on the floor and a row of brown packages on the shelf overhead. The shelf held brown grocery bags neatly  lined up. I pulled one down