Another ‘Picnic In The Snow’ Moment
February 5, 2010
With the promise of 16 to 24 inches of new snow heading our way from all those miles above, I pulled into the grocery store parking lot, debating if it was really necessary to purchase a few extra items, having stocked up a few days before.
Snow was heavily, soundlessly falling as I made the decision that I already had plenty.
I had just pulled out of the store parking lot onto the nearby residential street when a delightful sight caught my eye: on the porch of a quaint Victorian cottage, a man sat on a wicker chair, arms around a full-grown black lab who rested contentedly in master’s embrace. He was talking to someone (um, the man, not the dog), perhaps a passerby or a neighbor out to shovel; he smiled and laughed with all the nonchalance of someone enjoying a leisurely summer afternoon.
Since that moment, oh, all of twenty minutes ago, I have decided to coin the phrase: ‘like a picnic in the snow.’ You read it here, folks. Maybe I will develop a logo and make it into a stamp that reads Certified Picnic In The Snow Moment. CPITSM. Perhaps I have worked as an editor /graphic designer at an engineering firm for too long. Like the kid in the Sixth Sense who confesses in haunted tones ‘I see dead people,’ I would have to say ‘I see acronyms.’ Engineers stamp their drawings; writers their observations by writing them down; though the thought of a physical stamp is still appealing.
Here’s to the jovial gentleman with his gentle dog out enjoying their view of the ever-intensifying snowfall from their front porch–and their illustrious CPITSM status.