Kitchen Duty
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003, 11:02 p.m.

Question: Where's a good power outage when you need it?

What I Learned: Mother Nature knows what she's doing.

The snow that remains on the ground, in the trees, and along some of the streets, looks as if it�s been spread unevenly over the landscape like white icing from a can. In some places it�s laid on thick and white but in others it�s thin and patchy, like that frosting bowl was getting a little empty. I guess even Mother Nature has to cut corners once in awhile.

Let�s hope she doesn�t find another can of frosting too soon.

In the meantime enough snow remains to shut the schools down again. I begin to notice that everyone is sleeping later and later � except for me. There are dishes in the sink every morning but they weren�t there when I went to bed. Furthermore, I seem to be on call every night this week for kitchen duty and I must note that much of this impromptu cooking is occurring after midnight. I can only surmise that this is due to the extended snow day fiesta in progress.

Midnight until 12:30 a.m. seems to be the real danger zone. Requests are made for hot dogs � fried not zapped, brownies � with icing, soup � on top of the stove, toast � not too dark, and noodles � half with sauce and half with butter and cheese. Oh yeah, and hot chocolate with marshmallows. Who cares if it�s after midnight? We�re all up anyway.

It�s true. We are watching TV, on the computer, and generally not sleeping when we should be. I guess that�s what I get for not shutting off the lights downstairs, chasing everyone to bed, and curling up early in bed with a good book. I never seem to choose the simple path.

Last night for instance, at 12:30 at night, the kitchen switched on like a bright machine and the air hummed with goodwill. I was cooking and My Big Fat Greek Wedding was playing in the background. Everyone was happy because they know they are lucking out and this won�t last too much longer. The snow will melt and no one will be getting hot dogs and brownies at 1 in the a.m. - at least until the next snowstorm descends upon us.

But for now, we watch movies and sitcoms until much too late in the evening. For now, we turn on the kitchen light after midnight and break out the snacks. For now, we indulge in the glorious finale of another snow day and all that it entails.

I know it has been mighty inconvenient but nevertheless, right at this moment, I am glad Mother Nature has snowed us in for another day.

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