The phone has been ringing off the hook all day with cancelations -- Family Fun Day at the school, classes at the YMCA, my dad's trip to the Detroit Auto Show, Sunday School. Life is on hold while Mother Nature swirls around us and dumps inches upon inches of snow.

We Erieites are notoriously winter hardy. I actually tried to go out for a run when the snow slowed up for a bit this afternoon. I didn't make it a quarter of a mile before I turned back and decided maybe I should just take the day off.

Few storms slow us down, let alone shut us down. Six inches...are you serious?...we don't even turn on the 4x4s for that! Eighteen inches...we might leave a little early for work. Three feet?...whatever! But, today being a Saturday gives us all the opportunity to give in, hole up and wait the storm out. What a gift.

There is real beauty and joy in this forced day of rest. Admit it...it's kinda fun, isn't it?

Tomorrow, life will return to normal. The streets will be cleared, driveways will be snowblowed, and, we'll all be rushing here & there...going on with our lives.

Just for today, we stop rushing around -- on the orders of Mother Nature.