by Denise Dykstra

With a winter storm forecast to arrive this week, I did some serious meal prep work to hopefully not have to go out before the storm when everyone buys milk and bread or during the storm when I would prefer to be snowed in, thank you very much.

While I may not be a winter person, I do love a good stay snowed-in-at-home snow storm. When the boys were younger, it was my favorite because we were all together and not one of them would be traveling the roads… unless they were pretending they were plowing the road while in the driveway with their Tonka trucks.

When the Polar Vortex hit us back in January 2019, it was the first real snowstorm where two of my boys were no longer “snowed in” and I wondered if we would have as much fun. While it wasn’t the same fun it was when they were all young, it still proved to be one of our most memorable and still favorite memories.

In case you have somehow forgotten the Polar Vortex of 2019, we had record-breaking cold temperatures. Schools were closed for a solid week. Wind chills were negative forty.

We received snow during the cold weather as well. If you google West Michigan Polar Vortex, make sure you have a blanket to keep you warm as you read because you will immediately recall those bitter temps.

Our oldest son was away at college, but still managed to make it home to work. Our second son had a job shoveling snow for a local company and he basically either shoveled or slept that entire week. My husband’s semi wouldn’t work in the cold and they were having a terrible time even attempting to work with the products they were hauling so they shut down for the week.

Our main road was regularly lined with traffic, mostly at night, as the highway would shut down and the drivers would be rerouted by our home. Also, a pipeline broke somewhere, and on the news they requested all homes to please turn their heat down until they could get it fixed.

It was a cold time.

My two youngest boys and I set up living in our downstairs living room. We have a fireplace downstairs and we had that thing crackling and popping nonstop. How I wish I had gotten photos of it, but we took every blanket we didn’t love or were not using and we put them up over every single window in our downstairs to keep the heat in and the sound of the traffic out. Because our house felt so bitterly cold with the heat turned down, we only left our living room fireplace to get food or shower.

With everything canceled for a week and nowhere to go, we hunkered down and watched every cold-weather dog movie we could think of — Togo, White Fang, Eight Below. Why did we watch movies about snow in a snowstorm? I have no idea, but we did.

We played hours of card games. We listened to Gary Paulsen audiobooks as well as The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. With all the windows darkened and nothing normal with our schedule, we kept the oddest hours. All three of us made little beds by the fireplace and slept next to the fire. Anyone who woke up in the night was responsible for adding another log to the fire.

I knitted and Eli and I tried crocheting — he caught on to it — but I didn’t. Abe made up a story about our situation and added a bit of the story to the back of my planner every day we were snowed in.

During the day we would venture outside in many layers to shovel our driveways, feed all the birds and bring in more firewood. We would make the trek out the door a couple of times a day so we wouldn’t get too cold. And honestly, it just helped break up the day.

When the Polar Vortex snapped and we went back to the world of work, school and wrestling meets, we were sad. It took mere moments for us to take down all the blankets from the windows and move out of our one small room back into the big entire house again. But the memories we made that week are still some of the most favorites of the three of us.

I don’t know what this week is about to bring to us weather-wise. Some reports say 16 inches of snow, but we also know how that can change quickly. I encourage you all to find a way to slow down and add cozy moments if the weather hits. Make sure you have all you need to make pancakes, especially if you listen to or read The Long Winter.

Share some of your favorite snowed-in memories in the comments below. It will be like one big snowed-in party together!