Winters were frustratingly mild in North Carolina, but the year I was in the fifth grade we got lucky. Snow fell, and, for the first time in years, it accumulated. School was cancelled, and two days later we got lucky again. There were eight inches on the ground, and, rather than melting, it froze. On the fifth day of our vacation, my mother had a little breakdown. Our presence had disrupted the secret life she led while we were at school, and when she could no longer take it she threw us out. It wasn’t a gentle request but something closer to an eviction. “Get the hell out of my house,” she said.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Let It Snow
Let It Snow is a 2003 short story by David Sedaris. You can read it online here or listen to it read to you at the bottom of this post. It begins,
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...this year the skiers here are all saying, "let it snow."
ReplyDeleteThis weather has been weird. So much drought, then so much rain, but snow? No. Of course we rarely get much snow anyway...
DeleteI've got to remember to come back and read this since I like David Sedaris. Another appointment this morning so my time to lounge at the computer is limited.
ReplyDeleteI hope your appointment goes well.
DeleteWhen I was a kid, we wouldn't go in until the streetlights came on. 😺
ReplyDeleteUs, too!
DeleteIt reminds me of the cold, gray sky I see outside my office right now. The clouds are threatening to snow, too!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I'm getting a "Failed to Publish," which hasn't happened in awhile.
We have sunny skies here. Yesterday's high was 62!
DeleteWe might get snow. I don´t care, I work from home, but Ingo has to drive...
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to drive in, especially for those not used to it. The roads are a mess here whenever it snows.
DeleteSadly, this is how life swings in a dysfunctional family. My mother didn't drink--she just had bad emotional problems. I was the oldest. We got locked out in the chilly night because we hadn't come when called...to teach us a lesson. And yet we ran wild and she paid no attention to where we went or when or if we were home...but that night they had plans to go someplace and had wanted us home (no babysitter). Our dad never really took part in the child rearing. It was the 50s...plus I think he was a little afraid of her temper.
ReplyDeleteI was very protective of my little brother and sister--when we were together--which was when it got dark at night and the streetlights came on, yes. But they both resented me being in charge because I wasn't their mother...and I resented having to take care of them since they were both in diapers and I was only six...so as we grew up we lived in our rooms--separate lives. We've never been close to this day.
I never would have even thought about anything happening to my siblings. But I remember fantasizing about our parents just not coming home again--disappearing--and how we three could just live by ourselves. I knew how to make food, do laundry, clean the house, give them baths...of course, I was too young to think about things like mortgages and replenishing the groceries--lol!
Sorry--just brought up memories. There absolutely is humor in everything. I find it all sadly humorous looking back, too.
That sounds like a rough childhood. It's a shame it caused y'all to continue to be separated. My sister and I are also not in contact, though that's pretty much always been the case. We played together as kids, but the older we got the less contact she wanted 'til once we were grown she didn't want any contact at all. Some people just don't hold "family" as a valuable thing.
DeleteWhat an intriguing beginning for a story. I'm in the middle of too much already, though.
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Yes, I prioritize movies and sometimes short stories. Books have taken a back seat.
DeleteI love Sedaris. I wish it was him reading the story!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think to look for audio with him reading! It may be out there...
DeleteYou find the best short stories 😊. We had snow on Monday night but it's gone now although it's still cold. Happy wishes! Hugs Jo x
ReplyDeleteI love finding short stories freely available online. We're expecting highs in the 50s, which is normal here this time of year. Lows in the 30s. Some days we don't even turn on the heat.
Delete