Snow Day

Today is Ground Hog Day. People in the South do not celebrate or even really acknowledge Ground Hog Day. Punxsatawney who? Perversely enough though, they do celebrate Snow.
One could detect a vague atmosphere of panicked excitement yesterday evening when the weatherman ominously predicted overnight snowfall with accumulations of 1-2 inches. (yes, 1-2 inches) But, since these threats rarely amount to anything more than people rushing out to the Kroger to buy bread and milk, I really didn't take heed.

But, as I stepped outside this morning at 7 am, I found myself surrounded by pillows of the cold white stuff. Shockingly, there was probably a 2 inch blanket covering everything (keep in mind though that one could still see the grass blades sticking up through the snow). My next door neighbors were outside with their kids videotaping them as they squealed with delight and promptly dropped to the ground to make snow angels. Other neighbors were gleefully swooping the snow off of their vehicles, red cheeked smiles, forming playful snowballs in their gloved hands. It was positively festive.

Of course, all of the schools were closed. Snow plows and salt trucks are a scarcity, so even a little snow seriously cripples the city. Plus, despite the fact that us people from snow-country can easily drive 65 mph in a raging blizzard without flinching, the born-and-raised Southerners who have seen snow maybe 2 or 3 times in their life, are not comfortable (to say the least) driving in snow.

Those of us who made it in to the office, were laughing and chattering about the snow covered world outside. Some regaled us with stories of close-call slippage on the treacherous roadways. Someone even brought in hot donuts to celebrate the occasion.

When snowfall is a rare seasonal occurrence instead of the 5 months of slushy, salty coldness, it's really not so bad!