Snowy day rituals

OK, yeah, awesome, we're finally getting some snow this year. Looks like about three inches so far and word is the temperature is gonna drop hard tonight and freeze all that stuff solid, especially the slush in the streets.

And although it's a rare occasion that the snow finds us here in Roanoke, I have a little ritual I tend to follow when it does: Once the sun sets and the driveway is shoveled, I usually kick back in the basement screening room with a little bourbon, sometimes a little cigar and always my favorite inclement weather double-feature: "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" and "The Fearless Vampire Killers."


Both films are snow-centric movies that are fun to watch on a cold winter's night, especially when the heat pump is working properly, the robe is freshly washed and there's a little Early Times on ice in a glass.

The sun has set but the driveway isn't scraped. I need to do that, especially if it's going to freeze, but I think I'll take a walk first and listen to the snow settle on the branches.

I'm mentally composing a list of future replacement snowy day movies: "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," John Carpenter's "The Thing," "Gremlins," "Slap Shot," "Nobody's Fool," maybe "Diner" ....