Snowflakes and Wine

“Honey, don’t forget you promised to dust the family room and be extra careful with the snow globes.”

“Crap,” thought George. I did promise to do that. Of course, when I did, I didn’t know the game would be tied 24 to 24 and looking like it would go into overtime. Oh well, I can start dusting and keep the television turned up. If anything, exciting happens, I can watch the replays. If I don’t get it done, we’ll be late for our dinner date tonight.

Grabbing his dust rags and furniture polish from the closet, George started dusting at the top shelf of the tall cabinet. He really did have to be careful on that shelf. It was where Sheri kept her collection of snow globes.

As he reached up to grab the first snow globe a smile came to his face. He recognized this snow globe, and it brought back a lot of memories. He wound it up and stood there watching the snow and listening to its music. He heard the commotion on the television with one of the commentators screaming that they had just witnessed the greatest catch for a touchdown in football history. George decided he could watch the replay later. Right now, he wanted to replay what had happened in a restaurant in December of 2020.

Online dating has its advantages and disadvantages. It is certainly possible to meet a wonderful person and live happily ever after. It is also possible to be looking for the nearest exit and planning your escape within moments of physically meeting the individual that you have been exchanging emails with for weeks or more.

Fortunately, my experience was one of the more positive dates. As I watched the snowflakes whirl through the snow globe, the memories of that evening replayed in my mind.

It was early December; December 5th to be exact. We had agreed to meet for dinner. I had selected a very nice restaurant, a well-known steakhouse known for its elegance. The beautiful lady that I met that night had told me that she loved snow in one of our many email exchanges. I also love snow. She had also mentioned that she thought it would be wonderful if we were to meet for dinner and get snowed in. I wasn’t totally sure that I wanted to get snowed in anyplace but had to admit that there would be worse places to get snowed in than a nice restaurant with a large selection of fine wines. As I checked the weather for the night of our date, it seemed less probable that it was going to snow, much less get snowed in. Despite my many talents, I do not have the ability to make it snow in large quantities. Thus, if this lovely lady wanted snow, I would need to come up with a Plan B to wow her with my creative talents.

Plan B took time to develop. It was not something that came to me in a hurry. I think the inspiration came when I visited a local gift shop that happened to have a varied selection of beautiful snow globes. I was looking for a winter scene, the kind where huge pine trees are covered with snow and children are building snowmen and riding their sleds.

In the absence of the store having what I was looking for, I turned to mail order and paid extra shipping charges to ensure it would arrive on time. Thus, in the absence of my snow making ability, I found a viable option; Sheri was going to receive a snow globe. While I was not able to make it snow outside, I could make snowflakes fall via a snow globe beside our glasses of red wine.

I had placed the box containing the snow globe in a decorative bag behind my chair where it would be readily available should the conversation begin to ebb. If my memory serves me correctly, I don’t think the conversation ever actually waned but for some reason I decided to bring out the snow globe shortly after we finished talking about how delicious the lobster mac and cheese was, and our wine glasses had just been refilled. For the record, Sheri also received flowers that night. I had developed a modus operandi of leaving a small bouquet of flowers in the back seat of my car when I went on a first date. If the date went well and I was hopeful for a second date, I would bring out the flowers. If the date was one and done, some lady unknown to me would likely receive the flowers on my way home.

As I finished dusting the precious snow globe, and placed it back on the shelf, more memories came to mind. That December was a memorable one. Christmas can be a wonderful time to fall in love. The festive spirit of the Holidays creates wonderful opportunities. It’s nice to sit close together and to hold hands to ward off the cold weather and hot chocolate seems to warm the heart as much as the rest of the body on those nights when you’re willing to venture out together even though “the weather outside is frightful.”

Of course, the COVID 19 pandemic still lingered and large parties were not advisable. This, of course, did encourage small private parties, some small enough to be held in my apartment where there were only two people in attendance.

I was to learn that month that Sheri was a master at throwing parties. One of those that comes to mind when we talk about our early dating experiences is when she brought over a nice selection of wine (she is quite the connoisseur of fine wine). The second memorable party that month was New Years Eve. A local winery and restaurant developed a takeout menu that was nothing short of spectacular. Our New Year’s celebration with just the two of us was one we will never forget. We still have the party hats that we wore.

Five years have now passed since the night I handed Sheri the snow globe. It is just one of the many memories that we treasure dearly and feel blessed to share.

As I finish this story, I need to hurry, the deadline for submission is just before midnight on December 5th. I also have a second commitment on December 5th. It has been five years since Sheri and I met, had wine by candlelight, and I gave her the snow globe. Tonight, we have reservations at the same restaurant. Sheri hasn’t said anything about wanting to get snowed in this time, so I didn’t buy another snow globe. I think I’ll save my money for Valentines Day when we will celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. Maybe by then, I can find a place where we can get snowed in.

P.S.

As we are getting ready to go to our restaurant, my phone just buzzed with a winter weather advisory stating that it is about to start snowing. Hmmm….