Yeah I don’t want to think about snow for a while either, but this is today’s prompt. So let’s just dive in…
Monday, January 29th: Snow spiraled down in lazy circles.
Snow spiraled down in lazy circles. He knew the temperatures dropped in the night but didn’t realize they dropped low enough for snow. He poured his coffee and walked to the window. As he sipped his first cup of the morning he watched the snowflakes as they gracefully danced through the air. He watched as the flake landed on the ground. To his surprise it did not melt right away.
The ground was colder than he thought. He took another sip of the black brew and thought about moving to the radio. The weather report would no doubt be playing as folks readied themselves for work. He frowned and counted the days in his head, wondering if it was a weekend or a weekday. After he retired the days of the week became less meaningful.
He kept track because Thursday was garbage day and he needed to wheel his bin to the end of the drive to be collected. These days it was more a noticing of the bins at the ends of other’s drives that reminded him rather than the day itself.
‘Tuesday,’ he thought. ‘I think it is Tuesday.’
Wondering if he was right, he turned from the window and walked the few feet needed to the stereo. He knew there was a remote, but it was further away from him than the radio, set on the arm of his reading chair. The chair was at least twelve steps while the radio a mere four. He pressed the needed buttons. As he usually used the remote, he noticed that there was a light coating of dust on the control. His finger made an impression in the dust, making the button black while the rest remained slightly gray.
Unable to abide it he wiped his hand across the console swiping the dust away and then dusting his hand on his jeans. The radio began to play. They were playing music and he glanced at the clock. It was two until the hour. He expected when the song ended the weather and traffic would be given. He also knew from the time that the news headlines would be announced as well. As he walked back to the window he wondered if he should listen to them or turn off the radio before the headlines were announced.
These days he was avoiding the news more than he was listening to it. Most only covered the big headlines. They told him enough to get him interested but didn’t stay long enough to give him the full picture. He then had to decide if he wanted to investigate and find the full story or let the headline slide. The problem was that finding the actual story involved wading through short sound bytes and small clips of information as he tried to stitch it together. No one, it seemed, wanted any information that lasted thirty seconds. Once they reached the half minute mark the topic was switched. It made him feel dizzy rather than well informed.
Ten til Midnight 