That’s what she said

The consensus seems to be that everyone is tired of snow. Poor Virginians who flock to the supermarkets to clean the shelves of milk and bread in anticipation of the usual light dusting of snow have had all their worst fears confirmed.

And while I will agree that I am a little tired of pulling on my snow boots and attempting for the millionth time to free my car from it’s icy prison, I am still enjoying the snow.

I think this must be some emotion leftover from childhood, when snow only meant sledding, snow men and a day out of school. There was nothing bad, no stress, no inconvenience, just fun. The plow trucks were evil, trying to take away all our fun; we would groan when we saw them coming down the road.

Inconvenience is a word that people only learn in adulthood, and it takes the fun out of things that used to bring only excitement. Losing power used to be an  excuse to light candles and pretend I was Laura Wilder, now it just means that all the food in the fridge will go bad and the computer is losing battery power.

Needless to say, a snow storm like those we have been experiencing is an incredible inconvenience. It interrupts everything that we use to create our livelihoods, our roads, cars, walkways, phone service, electricity, etc. Even during the aftermath, when work and classes start again, and the plow truck hasn’t come anywhere near your immensely long driveway or cul-de-sac.

The snow gets ugly then: brown, red and black from the sand and exhaust, laying in stagnant piles on the side of roads or along the edges of parking lots. A slush develops from the tire ruts that is harder and more difficult to walk in than the snow itself.

But there is something magical about snow that I can’t believe anyone would deny, especially right after it’s fallen and not yet sullied by footprints, plows, car tracks and sand. Everything is under a soft blanket of white and it seems simple, as if the snow takes us back to a time without all the man-made things it covers. Again the world is natural and shows us just how little control we as people have over the earth. Despite our manipulations, mother nature rules, and she always will. And no matter the inconvenience that will be something I will always love.