Remember when we were kids and we wished/hoped/prayed for snow days, when school was cancelled and we got to play outside all day, wetting every pair of pants we owned? In and out all day, to get warm again, and change into dry clothes, then back out. Layered up so thick we could barely walk.
I guess I loved snow way back then ’cause I remember doing it.Â
Age has altered my opinion considerably. Not being the athletic sort, I don’t ski, never did. I don’t think these old bones would do well, were I to take it up at this age. I would be hard put to make a list of things that snow is good for.  I’ll agree that a fresh snowfall, out in the country, out where all is still “natural” as far as you can see, is breathtaking.  I don’t live near there. Where I live, a fresh snowfall looks pretty for about 20 minutes. Then the dog starts making yellow patches in it. And the neighbors start driving in it, beating it down into ice, because the city doesn’t send out snow plows for at least 3 days. I have been snowed in, and I’ve also been snowed out, where I couldn’t get home. Once, I was stuck in my vehicle for about 8 hours, when I “bottomed out” trying to get home on an unplowed road. I’ve also always had those sorts of jobs where road/weather conditions didn’t give me the day off.  No matter what, I had to go in, and it often meant going in early, ahead of a predicted storm, and going in prepared to stay over as long as necessary.   Snow isn’t fun for me anymore.
This country has been hard-hit this winter already, and there’s still many weeks of possible storms ahead. Many folks are posting weather-related stories and pictures on their blogs.  And I shudder, just thinking of what they’re going through.  I remember 2 years in upstate New York, where we were assigned with the Air Force. Taking 2 small children out when it was 5 below zero F, with a 25 mph wind blowing across the parking lot of the grocery store. I remember chopping ice in the driveway, pounding and pounding to break it up, with hands so cold that I didn’t notice that my wedding rings had rubbed a blister on the palm of my hand. And the blister turned into a big hole in my hand.  (and I remember the lovely infection I got, ’cause I was too stupid/stubborn to take my rings off) I remember sending my oldest boy, then 13-15 years old, out almost every winter day after school, to shovel out the driveway. Once it snowed every damn day for 7 weeks! We shoveled fresh snow off to the side of the driveway, and eventually, the pile of shoveled snow got so high that I couldn’t see over it to back out onto the street – I couldn’t tell if any cars were coming! So we had to get up onto the mountain of snow we had created and re-shovel the same snow, now dirtier, further away from the driveway and the street. I had a Ford Escort at the time – I seriously thought of just buying a taller car.
The only somewhat amusing story of the snow in Oneida County, NY took place with the Spring Thaw. Up there, snow covers the yards in October, and they stay snow-covered until April. You do get some warmer days, where some of the snow might melt off, but never enough where you see ground or grass. And after a day or so of that, well, it starts snowing again. If 3 inches melted off, you get 14 more inches more that night. So it goes all winter long.  We had a dog while we lived there, a chocolate brown Standard Poodle named Chloe. We had a long chain attached near the side door, and she was put out on that chain to do her business. So every day, out she went, onto the higher and higher ledge of snow. And every time anything fell out of her body, it sizzled down into the glacial mass out there. Now, military housing had some very strict regulations about how you had to take care of the unit assigned to you, and it definately said that you were required to clean up after your pet. But how in the hell were you to dispose of doggie waste when you couldn’t even find it? And so it went, every day, all winter long. Dog droppings melting their way to the central core of the Earth.   Â
Until the day came in the spring when it all melted away. And all that had been dropped was there, in full view of all. A whole winter’s worth of wet dog shit.
Where I am now, well, snow like that is very unusual. We’ve had many winters where the entire snowfall was less than 10 inches.  But then, it catches up with us, we get a few wicked ones and we are totally unprepared to deal with it. I remember one storm about 30 years ago – we were living out in the country, it started to snow on a Friday morning and kept on until Saturday night.  The snow plow came through at 10:30pm on Wednesday. No way we could get out – my neighbor saddled up a horse and went to the nearest store to get necessities (which in those days probably were milk and cigarettes!) On horseback he could avoid the drifts and pick a path where the snow wasn’t as deep! Another time, my oldest had his cousin and some other friends over when it started to snow. After a bit, I talked to them and said that more snow was coming, and they better think about getting along home. “Yeah, we’ll be leaving in a little bit.”  And they played another game of pool. An hour or so later, I again pointed out, old nag that I am, that the snow was getting deeper, wasn’t predicted to stop, they had narrow winding roads to travel and they better get moving. “Yeah, soon,” I was told.  When they finally left, they barely got to the corner, turned around and came back. The roads were too bad. They all were “guests” for 5 days.  I remember counting the eggs on hand, and making pancakes in the mornings. I figured the eggs would last longer that way. Four 17-year-olds can really put away the food! That house had a long driveway, about 150″ from the road to the house. Each day, those boys went out taking turns using the 2 snow shovels we owned, and it was the only time in 10 years that the driveway was ever fully shoveled after a snowstorm – made those boys work for their dinner!!
We have a prediction for snow later this week. The northern Plains states have already gotten pummelled, the Midwest has gotten hit, but most likely, it’ll go north of us and we’ll get little, if any, snow.
Who remembers the little jingle we all learned as kids:
Red sky at night,
Sailor’s delight.
Red sky in the morning,
Sailors take warning.
This was tonight’s sky, with the picture taken while standing on my front porch.
I think we’ll have a good day tomorrow.
