DrToday is day 26 of the NaBloPoMo challenge. It is all the day before Thanksgiving here in the United States. But for the specific area I live in, the weather is going to be the major topic of concern. After all, a winter storm watch has a way of bringing our attention, especially when it is the first projected major snow storm of the year.
To many, I know the word "snow" remains a bad word in their opinion. It is something they long to avoid and be rid of for the entire winter. I was originally born in southern New Jersey and lived there for 9 years. Snow was just something that came with the territory.
Then our family moved to South Carolina, where snow was not such a normal thing. I will never forget one snow storm, the people who lived across the street from us attempted to "wash" the snow of their driveway with their hose. Needless to say, the driveway became a solid sheet of ice. We lived there for four years before moving to Salisbury, North Carolina. I can't say I remember too much about any snow there.
Then I went to college in Asheville, NC while my parents moved to southeastern North Carolina. I flew home from college for Christmas break and could not get out when I was supposed to because it snowed where we lived. Any amount of snow in that part of the country paralyzes the area because there just isn't a high demand for snow removal equipment.
Flash forward many years to around 1999, my husband was away at annual training with the army reserves in January - which was a strange time for him to be gone since he typically goes to annual training in June. I was staying with my mother along with our oldest two sons. In the morning, it was snowing. Originally they called for a delay for the schools, then they changed it to a teacher workday. Since I was a teacher, that meant I had to go to work. So I cautiously got in the van and started to the high school I taught at with one ear on the radio. When I had drove for a while, the news I had been hoping for was announced. I no longer had to go to work, so the hard part became finding a safe place to turn around. But I made it.
Flash forward to our first year in Pennsylvania in 2012, the weekend before Thanksgiving as we were driving to our new home, the skies opened up and the snow began falling. It was not good news for the area. That February I believe we wound up with over 4 feet of snow on the ground before it finally stopped. But my children loved it. They made tunnels in the snow and just thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Only time will tell how much snow we actually will get this year or will wind up with for the year. But I plan on enjoying it. Because being in the military means I have no idea of where we will be moving to next.
How's the weather where you are?
This picture is what our backyard looked like this morning before it began really snowing.
Then the picture above is what it looked like this afternoon.
