Snow Day


Last night it snowed.

I know what you're thinking, Who cares, right? This is not the snow many of you are thinking of. We did not receive snow in feet, or even inches. We received a dusting of snow.

Nonetheless, Schools are closed, roads are close, the Governor has declared a state of emergency.

Before you break your back falling off your chair laughing, remember I live in the South.

I grew up in the Northwest in a midsize town in Washington state called Bremerton. My wife grew up in Colorado. In those places, snow was quite normal. Every year as winter approached, the snow plows and sand/salt trucks were prepared for their winter work. When the ice and snow came, these machines were put to use, plowing and clearing, and the roads stayed mostly clear and passable.

Little or none of that machinery exists as far south as I live. So, when we get this dusting of snow and the roads ice up, that's how they stay until the sun comes up and melts everything away. I suppose what I'm saying is that the amount of snow one receives is not as important as the ability to clear it.

I must say, with all respect to my friends and family still living in the Northwest, I remember those cold, wet, slushy, snowy days of my youth with little fondness. I've become quite accustomed to the six-week winter of the South. I now complain not of the miserable wet cold, rather, the dry static air of winter.

I wrote a quick haiku about our snow day (yes, I'm sure there will be only one) and it goes like this:

We got a snow day
Just a light dusting of snow
But still, a day off

Hope you all enjoy your snow day. And for you Northerners with five feet of snow on the ground, regular day. Just put on the bigger jacket.

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