SNOW!

In the grand scheme of things, there are three different ways to look at white flakes that fall from the sky and accumulate on the ground: snow.

The first way we look at snow comes from what age you are. Little children look at snow with fascination and want to go out and play in it. So parents bundle them up so completely that they can hardly move. School age students look at the snow and watch for an excessive accumulation so school is canceled and they can have a day off. Early and middle adulthood look at snow as a form of recreation: snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, sledding. If, however, the adult has a home but no children, the snow must be moved off the driveway and/or sidewalk, and that takes effort and time after working hard all day. If the adult has children, the idea of "child labor" takes on a new meaning; if you shovel the drive, I'll pay you $10.00. Older adults look at the snow and worry about who will shovel or worse, what will happen if they fall.

The way we look at snow depends on how long the season is lasting and how much snow has fallen. The first snow fall looks pretty and sparkly, at least until the salt, sand, and cinders have destroyed the pristine picture. By January or February, especially this year with the amounts of snow that have fallen, we look at the snow and wonder how much more will fall with the "I'm tired of all this white stuff."

The weatherman has a different take. Have you ever noticed that the weatherman always talks about a "light" snow? Since snow is white when it falls, how could it ever be thought as something other than "light," until we have to shovel it. Each individual snowflake is light in weight; so again, "light" fits.

So, what is your take on snow?

THE FIRST SNOWFALL

The weatherman predicted on Thursday, and again Friday morning, that the first significant snow fall would descend sometime on Friday. I stopped on my way home from work Thursday to purchase mittens, gloves, and some needed baking supplies. If we were going to get three to six inches of snow, I wanted to be able to bake. On Friday evening, however, when I took the dog out after supper, the snow hadn't started. (Sometimes I wish I had decided to go into meteorology so I could make the wrong predictions most of the time and still have a job.)

As the evening progressed, I kept in touch with my hubby who was on his way home from New York. (He's a truck driver.) When he finally called to tell me he was three miles from the truck stop, I pulled on my shoes, threw on my jacket, and shoved my hands into my gloves. As the headlights pierced the night sky, they revealed a light snow descending from the sky. It had indeed started, and I was much relieved that my husband was not going to be driving into the storm.

When I awoke Saturday, my hot tub displayed a thick blanket of snow and the white stuff was still falling. It fell all morning, finally stopping shortly after noon. The tree branches are still dressed in that thick jacket of snow. As I drove to the nearest Walmart, I noticed that the snow had fallen so gently that the tall weeds stood erect with their massive caps of snow.

This morning, the clouds are breaking away to reveal a deceitfully warm sun in a calming blue sky, for the layer of white on the ground tells the truth: it's cold outside.