Snow Days

       

        As I sit at my computer today, watching the snow turn my woods into a winter wonderland, I’m reminded of snow days past.

The earliest one that I remember was in the late 1950s. It stands out simply because it occurred in late March or early April, and the day before, I had been sitting on my porch steps in a short-sleeved shirt. That’s Alabama for you.

The next one I recall was in January 1977. In a framed montage on my office wall I have a picture from that one. It shows my late husband, Jack, wrapped in his Navy pea coat, wearing a denim cap and the scarf my first sister-in-law made for him, and striped pants. He’s holding onto a rope attached to what appears to be a garbage can lid upon which my five-year-old daughter, Heather, is seated. She, too is bundled in a hooded coat. I love that father-daughter picture.

How could I forget the Storm of the Century, in 1993, that shut down the entire Birmingham metropolitan area, and then some, for several days? We were without power for at least five of those days, so we had no heat. There were four of us by then, and we slept on quilts in the living room of our Homewood house. Every couple of hours Jack got up and add more wood to the fire in the fireplace. That fireplace had no damper, so most of the heat was escaping through the chimney. Next morning, Jack took a thermometer outside, and discovered only a few degrees difference between our living room and our front yard.

I think that was the same snow that threatened to devour my Yorkshire terrier, T.J. He was so small, and the snow so deep and soft, that he almost disappeared into it every time he went out to wee-wee. I have a video to back that up.

During a big snow a couple of years ago, I messed up a really good cookie sheet using it as a sled. My Ashville driveway is steep, and I just knew I was going to wind up hitting a tree or my pond. As usual, I only stayed outside for half an hour. I love snow best when viewing it from inside the house. 

It’s snowing heavily now, but with the ground so damp, who knows how long it will stick? I’m prepared, though. My propane tank was filled Monday. My horses are wearing blankets and I turned on their stall heat lamps. I bought extra hay yesterday. I also bought gasoline for my portable generator. That generator is the best insurance I’ve ever purchased against a power outage, because there hasn’t been one in the year and a half that I’ve had it. But I bought gasoline, just in case.

There are plenty of leftovers in the fridge, including come crock-pot barbecued ribs and some red beans and rice. I went by Ashville Drugs a little while ago and picked up a prescription. I also went into the Pig for some limes so I won’t get snowed in without a margarita. Somehow, despite the dropping temperature, ice cream managed to find its way into my cart, too.

       Snow or no snow, it’s all the same to me. I’ll be watching through the windows in my office. I’ve got deadlines to meet. So go ahead, Mother Nature, bring it on. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

View from my from porch.