Friday, December 09, 2005

Happy Friday, Y'all

The wind blowing is minimal today, thank goodness. It was so cold here yesterday, the damp and dreary kind of cold, and the wind was blowing so much that it felt much colder than the 38 degrees it was. Today is to be a bit warmer, more into the upper 40's, so a warm up has begun. Yesterday was just plain miserable. I stopped to fill up my gas tank and the wind blowing made the cold air chill me to the bone. Gas price here: $1.96/gallon.

Living most of my life in the deep South, I have an expectation of mild winters. As a child in Louisiana, even living way up north in Shreveport, I was in shorts on Christmas eve. Did those of you in south Louisiana just smile? "Way up north" is what the Cajuns say about the Shreveport area of the state. The most snow we ever saw was maybe a dusting once or twice. As a child, I was sure we were missing out on great fun being deprived of a decent snowfall, you know. As an adult, I have come to my senses.

For about 8 years or so, I lived in the midwest and I have had all the snow and ice I will ever need again. Snow is a beautiful thing for about the first hour when it is still clean and white. After that it is just nasty and dangerous to the driving public. Or the walking public for that matter. I have busted my ass on ice more times than I care to remember.

I'm spoiled about warm weather and I know it. Last year we received about 1/2" of snow on Christmas eve and I took photos of it to document the snowfall! My son was not impressed. When my son was in kindergarten I took him to Montana for Mardi Gras week vacation to see snow and mountains. We were living in Lafayette, Louisiana and the school kids get time off for Mardi Gras. Lafayette has become increasingly popular with tourists as a family-friendly alternative to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. The Cajun culture in Lafayette celebrates Mardi Gras in unique ways. Anyway, to escape some of the extra congestion brought to the city by extra tourism, he and I went to visit my sister and her family in Montana. It was time for my son to experience snow.

We had a great time. My sister bought him a pair of snow boots before we arrived. He had his first heavy duty parka and gloves with him. His cousins, one the same age as him, enjoyed seeing him. We went to a local skiing area about 20 minutes from my sister's home and my son got up close and personal with a mountain for the first time! Snowball fights followed and watching skiers go up on the ski lifts was entertaining, too.

New adventures, viewed through the eyes of a child. Doesn't get any better than that.

1 comment:

srp said...

Nyssa got to spend a week in New York about an hour or so north of Syracuse. It snows almost every day. She loved it but I think got her fill of deep snow. Now she'll settle for the two or three inches.

About the South, the first year we were in Columbus there was a day with the THREAT of snow. Forecast was for snow by the afternoon. The day was gloomy, so the schools sent the kids home at 11AM. THEY CLOSED THE SCHOOLS DUE TO THE THREAT OF SNOW!!!! Of course by 1PM skies cleared and the sun came out. It never did snow. My introduction to snow in the deep south. After coming from Oklahoma City where school was only called off if the snow was above the bumper of the bus, it was a shock.