There'S-NO Day Like a SNOW Day

In the southeastern United States, we regard snow as very fragile and fleeting.

Okay, so I don't really know how everyone else in the Southeast feels - that's the way I feel.

There is always a tendency with me to be very careful not to grasp the idea of a snowfall too tightly - lest it slip away.  This comes after years of hard lessons ... the weather forecaster, the "slight chances of precipitation", the "possibility" of school closings - those will all let you down if you count on them too much.

When I was still in school, I distinctly remember going to bed one night with predictions of a "winterstorm" still ringing in my ears and the fresh evidence of snow flurries and a howling wind outside my window.  Unfortunately, I invested too much hope in that snow event and it let me down; I awoke the next day to a cold, but dry, day.

So I think that we Southerners tend to keep the hopes of a significant snowfall at arms length.

That's probably why, when I was sleeping in the "snooze" zone this morning, I had one of those "going to work in your underwear" kind of dreams.  I dreamed that after sleeping through my normal getting up time and despite all the snow on the ground when I went to bed -   I awoke to find that almost all of the snow was gone! 

And I was late for work!

When I really awoke, the snow was still there - and in greater measure than when I left it last night.

The 4 to six inches that fell here last night is more than we have seen in a long time.  It was one of those all encompassing blankets that makes everything clean and white and quiet.  When AA jumped into his clothes anxious to be the first out in the snow - I almost cautioned him to be careful and leave some areas free from footprints.   I just didn't want it to get messed up as if messing it up might make the snow angry and it would go away.  Instead I opted to throw caution to the wind and let him go to trounce about where ever he pleased.  The snow was deep enough that the cover remained complete despite his rambling footsteps.

So I am enjoying another holiday (another Southern tradition).

Those of you that reside north of the Bible-Belt, may not understand all this fuss about snow.  I suppose if I saw it every day and in huge gray piles alongside the roads - I would gain a new perspective.  I would see snow for the nuisance it is! 

But for today, I am happy to live in the bliss of ignorance, as I tentatively and cautiously grasp the tender moment that is - a snow day.