Watching Netflix in the middle of the day, waking up late, and walking the dog (again) — are these adult snow days? Even though it’s 85 degrees and sunny 10 feet from where I’m sitting, I’m having a strong sense of deja vu. I think sheltering in place is a lot like an extended snow day. The first few days are amazing, filled with doing stuff in the middle of the day that you usually have to wait to do on the weekend. When I was 12, this meant staying out all day sledding (either on our old toboggan or a recently discarded cardboard box), staying up late watching TV (of course, the stations went off at midnight…), late-night reading, sleepovers in the middle of the week, and consuming lots of hot chocolate and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

A few years back, I got to experience an adult snow day when my husband, my youngest daughter (20 at the time), and I got caught in a freak snowstorm in Charleston, SC, that shut down the city for three days. Yep, that state in the deep South that’s now an epicenter for the Corona virus. Five inches of beautiful white snow blanketed all the streets and parked cars, icicles hung from the palm trees, and frost covered all the windows. The first few hours of our shutdown was a flurry (!) of calls to the office and the airlines. After making alternate arrangements, we settled into our extended stay, walking the quiet streets, making snow angels on the empty sidewalks, and tasting snowflakes until our shoes got too wet and cold and we had to return to our hotel. The Hampton Inn didn’t have a restaurant and everything in the city was closed so we went to the Walgreen’s across the street and grabbed dinner and our next day’s meals from the snack food aisle before they closed their doors as well for the next two days. Popcorn, Cup Noodles, yogurt, M&Ms, and endless hot chocolate and tea from the hotel were Michelin-quality meals and the perfect complement to our HGTV and true crime TV viewing spree. Just like snow days of the past, it only lasted a few days, though, and we were back to life as usual.

Fast forward to a few months ago when the King Kong of all snow days kicked in. My safer-in-place snow days initially were also fun. I was very productive. I organized photos, built a website, learned PhotoShop and Pixelmator Pro, sewed my own mask by hand, reconnected with a lot of old friends, cooked a lot of recipes, sold a few things on eBay, and even got pretty good at the NYT crossword. Lately, though, it’s feeling like day three of the snow days of my youth where I just want to go back to school and see my friends. I think as with anything, you can get bored even with limitless TV and movies to watch, books to read, and paths to walk. Saying that out loud seems very spoiled (a la Veruca Salt, “I want it now!”), but I really am missing traveling, going out with friends, and simply doing whatever I like when I like.

Since it looks like this snow day will go on a bit longer, let me know if there’s anything you’d recommend to try, do or learn…I seem to have the time!