Thick, heavy but soft snow is gently falling from the sky between the mountain ranges in Knoxville, TN this morning. A Proper Snow Day.
Snow days are few and far between in Knoxville during the winter months. They typically come with a dusting overnight that is immediately melted away by mornings' 40 degree temperature and the beating of the sunrise.
The snow coming down this morning reminds me of Northwest Indiana and the lake-effect snow we would get. I learned what lake-effect snow was when I was in 7th grade living in the region of NW Indiana, but all news channels were based out of Chicago for some reason. I miss Central Standard Time.
I'm currently working on writing up the things I learned from the small promise I made myself at the beginning of last year to watch 100 movies I hadn't seen before. It was a small promise (not a resolution) because resolutions don't work for me due to the lack of holding myself to big things. That statement isn't exactly true, but usually, when I want to change something, I make the change too drastic and harsh to keep up with, inevitably giving up on the change altogether. So, I wanted to watch 100 movies I hadn't seen as an avenue to learn something new about myself. At the beginning of last year, I made 2 promises:
Watch 100 Movies I hadn't seen before.
Stop keeping a beard for the sole reason of covering my double chin.
Since these were 2 seemingly minor promises, I did manage to hold up my end on both. Cudos to me.
That last paragraph seems like it doesn't fit this write-up, but I promise it does. Watching 100 movies opened up this trial and error aspect of my life I had never previously known, or accepted. As I said, I'm currently working on appropriately writing out the things I learned from this ridiculously simple promise I made to myself. The biggest thing I learned during this was I enjoyed trying and liking new things. It sounds stupid, but I have always been scared of new things because I wouldn't be good at them OR worse, I would like them and that's not what I typically liked. I don't want to get into this too deeply because that's not what this is about BUT a prime example of this is Trader Joe's. I scoffed at Trader Joe's and anyone who would go to that place to shop for groceries. (Trader Joe's, if you're reading this, just know I'm sorry and I love spending Sundays with you. P.S. Your blueberries, strawberries, and frozen fettuccine alfredo changed my life.)
I woke up early this morning with an excitement that the sight of snow falling brought me. This only happened when I was younger, knowing it meant there would be no school that day. In my adult life, I hold the firm belief that it should snow every day of December and not a single drop the rest of the year. But this January snowfall in Eastern Tennessee was much appreciated.
I took full advantage by putting on my warmest sweatshirt and sweatpants to sit in the chair I have directly looking out over the dog park and into the small forest that separates my apartment building from the rest of the complex. The steam rolling out of the top of my grey Yeti coffee mug from the fresh (Trader Joe's) black coffee as I settle into my 2024 simple 'trying something new' goal. "When Life Gives You Lululemons" by Lauren Weisberger.
The goal is to read 2 books a month. I joined the local library and have only been made fun of by 1 friend so far. It happens to be the only friend I have told but whatever. I probably could have left that part out but it makes it funnier. I went to the Library after finding out what a library card costs. It's 0$. Huh? I gave them my driver's license to prove I was a resident of the area and they told me I was all set. I followed with, "So I can just go find a book I want?"
The polite woman who set me up with the card was a little thrown off. But hey I didn't know this was a thing.
Anywho, my goal is to read fiction this year, which is something I would have never gotten into if I hadn't forced myself to watch 100 movies last year. I previously only tended to mostly watch movies about sports or comedies. When you watch 100 movies you've never seen before in 12 months, you have to be less selective. Here are the Letterboxd descriptions of my 2 favorite movies from last year:
"Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny."
"Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both."
Do either of those sound like movies that are funny or about a sport? No.
So, back to the picture I was trying to paint for this morning of me enjoying a real snow day. I am reading about a group of rich people living in the suburbs and all of their problems. One of the main characters, Emily 37, is a damage control expert for famous people in crisis and mostly easily described by her friends as, "Such a bitch, I love her"
She is such a bitch, I love her and want to be her friend desperately.
I just recently changed a guest room into an office. I never used the space prior unless I had visitors, so transforming this room I never stepped foot in, into a space for myself has been fun over the past week or so. I currently sit in it with some soft morning music filling the room on a playlist Spotify created for me with a candle my mom got me that smells like freshly baked cookies while I look out of the window into the dog park now packed with people bundled up and enjoying their dogs rolling in the snow together.
A proper snow day.
Snow days are the best days. They are also days that don't feel like they actually exist. It's just a day we steal from the real world. The heavy snow coming down allows you to feel totally present in your own space. You aren't concerned about what is happening elsewhere because you can only see so far. You are in a real-life snow globe. The people we see in snowglobes never have any issues besides the human asshole who is shaking them half to death. Beyond that, it's a world of its own, void of any outside problems.
I rarely see so many adult people playing like children together with their dogs in our dog park. It may fill up on a warm summer Friday night when the adults bring their cold beverage and catch up with the other dog owners so they can leave each other's dogs to entertain theirs for a while. Which is nice. Today there are no cold beverages. There are grown adults I see daily typically just strolling around the complex with their dog on a leash, now diving on the ground with their dog in inches of snow. Just like I used to with our dog growing up. (Until we left it with my Grandma at the lake for a week while we were on vacation and the dog died after getting into some chocolate. RIP Reese) Arlene, if you are reading this, I still love you!
To be fair to my Grandma, she has been the only one excited for me after hearing the news that I got a Library card. And Reese was supposed to be a Hamster for my brother, so we didn't need a dog anyway.
The sun isn't out but it's still light in my apartment with no light switches turned on thanks to the brightness of the white snow, still failing an hour later the same as it was when I started this. Snow days should exist more. I think we'd all be happier.
In regards to the 2nd promise I made myself; I ran my first half marathon in October and I continue to shave my face exposing this goddamn double chin.
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