Snow,
Beautiful Snow
“A
lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of
water.”
Carl
Reiner
It
snowed yesterday in Birmingham—big, sloppy, wet flakes like
feathers came down for several hours. We hardly ever see snow here,
so everyone was clustered at their windows, looking out. By late
afternoon, the sun came out and the snow began to melt, but for a
while we had a winter wonderland.
Let
me just say that people go more than a little crazy here when there's snow.
Everyone tries to rush home or to the grocery store for food. We all
know the snow will be melted away by the next day, but we stock up
like folks in Alaska preparing for a long, difficult winter. Schools
close and don't reopen until every drop is gone. People panic and
slide around on the slushy roads. Lots of folks ditch their cars in
the medians, and hike home in their Uggs and parkas, looking like explorers in the Arctic. It's pretty
silly.
Having
grown up in the mountains of North Carolina, I have seen my quota of
snow for this lifetime. I don't ever need to see it again. But I'll
admit that the world is beautiful when snow is coming down. I like to
watch it fall, and I like even better watching it melt away. We have
to take our beauty where we can get it, I guess, but even too much
beauty gets old after a while.
I
must admit that bare, black tree branches piled with snow present an
elegant contrast. And snow-rounded rooftops make every house into a
romantic little cottage. And the hollies along the front of my house
do look quite spectacular laden with snow, red berries shining
through. I'm sure snow refreshes the grasses, and the spring daffodils
and tulips will be even prettier this year because of it. I guess
snow really is a good thing to have in winter, all things considered.
And now that we've had it...it can go ahead and melt.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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