Waking up to this
begets breakfasts with this.
It also begins the season of a little something I like to call "The Snow Shuffle." Those of you who have lived in wintery, icy conditions (which is probably all of you) know what I'm talking about. In case there's one person out there who has never tried to walk across the grocery store parking lot when it's snowing or hurried to get to class on time over a three inch layer of ice, let me explain. We all try to avoid this stupid-looking walk the first time we encounter the conditions that make it necessary every year. We all then humiliate ourselves by slipping and falling in front of a full size pickup and busload of school children in said parking lot, or we come close to it, which is almost equally as humiliating. (Imagine yourself slipping in midstep, throwing your arms out to the side and stopping your downward decent just in time to look like a tight-rope walker practicing without a rope.) After that, we succumb to The Shuffle. What is this shuffle, you ask? Basically, you walk very carefully, trying to look as normal as possible but not go too slowly so people don't notice. Instead of walking heal-toe, you just put your whole foot down at once, like Frankenstein. You all know what I'm talking about, right? Well, I caught myself doing this last night as we left the ward Christmas party and went out the car which was covered in about 1/2 inch of snow and was perfectly snow-free when we went inside. It took me what seems to be quite a bit longer than everyone else to perfect this shuffle. I fell quite a few times
my first winter in Rexburg, ID. That was my first real encounter with enough snow and ice on a regular basis to necessitate The Shuffle. There are those out there who seemed to be blessed with Sticky Feet. They don't seem to need The Shuffle, they walk quicker than everyone else, and they never seem to fall. My old roommate, Heidi, was one of these. Maybe she
did use The Shuffle, but had grown up in a place where the only mode of transportation in the winter was a snow mobile (snow machine, sorry) and had gotten so used to using The Shuffle that she just naturally used it all the time. Or maybe she has another secret that she never shared with the rest of us (half gecko?). So to all of you snowbunnies out there, be safe and don't be afraid to use The Shuffle and run the risk of looking Frankensteinish...it's better than falling flat on your bum, or face, or hip, and having to try to laugh it off as you wince in pain so as to not make others around feel bad for holding back their laughs but can't seem to manage from keeping that smirk off their faces.
begets breakfasts with this.
It also begins the season of a little something I like to call "The Snow Shuffle." Those of you who have lived in wintery, icy conditions (which is probably all of you) know what I'm talking about. In case there's one person out there who has never tried to walk across the grocery store parking lot when it's snowing or hurried to get to class on time over a three inch layer of ice, let me explain. We all try to avoid this stupid-looking walk the first time we encounter the conditions that make it necessary every year. We all then humiliate ourselves by slipping and falling in front of a full size pickup and busload of school children in said parking lot, or we come close to it, which is almost equally as humiliating. (Imagine yourself slipping in midstep, throwing your arms out to the side and stopping your downward decent just in time to look like a tight-rope walker practicing without a rope.) After that, we succumb to The Shuffle. What is this shuffle, you ask? Basically, you walk very carefully, trying to look as normal as possible but not go too slowly so people don't notice. Instead of walking heal-toe, you just put your whole foot down at once, like Frankenstein. You all know what I'm talking about, right? Well, I caught myself doing this last night as we left the ward Christmas party and went out the car which was covered in about 1/2 inch of snow and was perfectly snow-free when we went inside. It took me what seems to be quite a bit longer than everyone else to perfect this shuffle. I fell quite a few times my first winter in Rexburg, ID. That was my first real encounter with enough snow and ice on a regular basis to necessitate The Shuffle. There are those out there who seemed to be blessed with Sticky Feet. They don't seem to need The Shuffle, they walk quicker than everyone else, and they never seem to fall. My old roommate, Heidi, was one of these. Maybe she did use The Shuffle, but had grown up in a place where the only mode of transportation in the winter was a snow mobile (snow machine, sorry) and had gotten so used to using The Shuffle that she just naturally used it all the time. Or maybe she has another secret that she never shared with the rest of us (half gecko?). So to all of you snowbunnies out there, be safe and don't be afraid to use The Shuffle and run the risk of looking Frankensteinish...it's better than falling flat on your bum, or face, or hip, and having to try to laugh it off as you wince in pain so as to not make others around feel bad for holding back their laughs but can't seem to manage from keeping that smirk off their faces.
