Snow Days are relatively new to me, since I grew up in Florida and never even saw snow until I was 18 and in college. But we’ve had quite a few this winter and since we’re snowed in from the monster storm that hit the DC area this weekend, I’ve been thinking about the idea. Snow days mean you have to slow down. You can’t get out of your driveway, so there’s no place to go, unless you can walk. There’s no newspaper or mail. I can live without the mail, but we get three newspapers a day and I really miss reading them with my morning coffee.
To keep me busy, I have a quilt in the hoop to hand quilt and I’ve learned how to knit. Both of these activities are meditative for me. When I hand quilt I enjoy the slow pace of the needle moving through the fabric and my mind is free and open to new design ideas. Not every project lends itself to hand quilting and I would never give up my machine quilting and go back to doing everything by hand, but I do usually have a hand project going. Knitting is a different activity altogether. I’m not very good at it yet–I’ve finished one scarf and I’m almost finished with another one in a different technique so I can learn something new. I’ve tried to learn to knit three or four times in my life, but I think I’m going to be able to stick with it this time. It will never take the place of quilting for me, but it’s a new way to think about fiber and design, which are my favorite things as an artist.
Snow Days are family days–we make a fire in the fireplace, watch movies, make homemade pizza and eat popcorn. We read books. We reconnect with each other. Snow Days force us to take a break from our busy lives and I think that’s a good thing.