A Walk in Snowmageddon 2014

Although I hate snow when I have to drive in it, or when people I care about have to drive in it, when it comes in the quantity that we are still receiving and brings the world to a virtual halt, I can relax and enjoy it like a child.

So with none of my family forced to drive in it today, work called off or covered by someone else, or a professional driver to get someone from point A to point B and back, I've sat at the window and watched it snow most of the morning. Then I did what I'm prone to do, and what most people undoubtedly find a bit crazy, I bundled up, got my camera and went for a walk.

Face it, this amount of snow hasn't fallen here in 10 years. It's magical and transforms the world. Tomorrow I may be back to driving in it again, or the roads may be scraped enough that little people come here (either way there may be a sled involved), but here on my dead end road, there has been little traffic beyond one farmer and the dogs. It's as quiet and peaceful as today's busy world ever manages to be and to spend it inside is, to me, a waste.

My husband, out of work for the day, braved the elements with me. My house dogs, after a quick trip out and one bound through the snow (above) ran for the porch. My yard dogs are always game, no matter the elements so we were off.

When we headed down the road there was one set of recent tracks -- tobacco farmers planted seeds at their nearby greenhouse on Tuesday and had been in to check the temperature -- and one of the dogs quickly left his big-pawed mark on the trail.

My neighbor's steep driveway had not been broached by anything but dog tracks and looked tranquil and scenic.

Near the point where we turned around, the three black dogs were lured away by a scent in the nearby woods, although my red Lab Rebel stayed with us.

It wasn't too long before the source of the scent bounded across the road in front of us and disappeared again into the woods, far ahead of her pursuers, who turned back toward us once they reached the road.

On the way back, the snowfall was increasing again, and I noticed what I think is the same tractor (although in a different spot) that I photographed the last time it snowed.

Back inside, I watched the snow fall on our summertime hangout, the weeping cherry, swings and sandbox where we love to spend our evenings.

Then I sat at my computer, watching the birds flock to the feeder as the snow continued to fall and our totals continue to rise. It's a day to be at peace with the world and realize just how far out of my control everything, from life and death to the weather, actually is. I didn't want snow, just as I didn't want much of what has happened in the last couple of months, and yet it came.

So I'm going to keep looking for the moments to treasure and not let the snow, or my life, slip by unappreciated just because it isn't what I wanted. I'll huddle inside with one I love for a while, then I'll push out again to feel the magic of life wet against my face and wonder, is it the snow or my cold tears?

Bracing for "Snowmageddon" -- I Hate Snow

It's been ages since we had snow here -- real snow, that is.

That little surprise of icy white stuff a couple of weeks ago, that was nothing.

It's been two years since I've made any snow pictures. Pictures of a snowy walk with the big dogs. More pictures of romp in the woods with my three Jack Russell terriers, who were completely unfazed and had a blast. A few pictures of my then two granddaughters checking out the snow. It was, in fact, Feb. 20, 2012, according to the date on my pictures and we might have had three inches.

It was pretty. Everything was white and magical looking for about one day. Most of the world as we know it functioned just fine.

Ten years ago, while my husband was away taking a course of study at the University of Massachusetts, we had a lot of snow. I had to drive our beat up old Dodge pickup nearly every day. I still remember riding home with Ethan, who would have been 13, the night the universal joint came out of the front of it. My daughter was away at college and it was just us a big chunk of that winter. It was just us getting back and forth to work, and I don't know why in my memories he is with me on that late evening trip. Maybe he wasn't, or maybe he'd gone in with me just to get out of the house a few hours.

It doesn't matter. It was a miserable winter when the snow stayed around long enough to be dirty and red with Carolina mud, then got covered by a fresh coating. It's been that long since we had significant snow.

For the record, I hate snow days. I don't mind snow on Saturday that is gone by Monday. But only children can really love snow days. Well, maybe dogs. But children are the only people who can just enjoy the magic of a world transformed by snow. For the rest of us, even people who work at home or who are retired and don't have to get out, snow days are a world of worry. Even if we have the luxury of sitting home, we have people we care about who are traveling back and forth to work. If we're among those people making our way to work, we have to worry about making the trip without a pile up even if we can drive in it. Once the main roads are better, odds are we wind up worrying about what to do with kids who are out of school, or daycare.

For 25 years I was a journalist and I was one of those people who didn't get a snow day off. I remember forcing myself to learn to drive a 5-speed when I was snowed in and the only vehicle around was a 5-speed, four-wheel-drive Suburban -- talk about a tank. I knew the basics and I made it to work and back because I was tired of being chauffeured and waiting on a ride, or being stuck at home on a dirt road that wouldn't see a plow for ages. In fact, the worse the snow, the more I had to get out to record the disaster around me.

Even worse than having to leave in snow was trying to get home after a snow had arrived and there were lots of people on the roads who would probably have stayed home had the snow come before work. I can remember making it halfway and finding the mountain that was between me and home blocked by a wreck that forced me to turn around and go a different route. I can remember being caught out in "good clothes" and a car that wouldn't climb the hill to my babysitter's home, taking off my heels and walking in my stocking feet to get my kids. I remember doing a 180 on the last hill before reaching my house because I was trying to miss the car in the ditch and lost my momentum and tried to overcompensate, and hoping that the car coming down the hill would be able to stop before he hit me. I wound up parking my car at a nearby bar and hitching a ride with a guy in a four-wheel-drive Toyota, and no, I didn't ask how much he had drank. I remember when an actual blizzard hit in 1993, and buildings collapsed and people died of carbon monoxide trying to stay warm in houses without heat.

I hate snow.

So today, I got up with a sense of dread for the weather ahead. Forecasters have misjudged the last two storms -- we didn't get the one we were supposed to and we did get the one that was supposed to miss us -- but this one seems like a dead hit and they're bound to get one in three. The deer I saw grazing in the middle of a field on the side of the four-lane at 5 p.m. yesterday and the heavy traffic at the bird feeder out front this morning say the natural world expects something as well.

Before you say, oh, fun with grandbabies and work at home, think again.

First of all, my business depends on people traveling. So bang, a storm means cancellations because pups don't need a kennel when Mom and Dad are home. Sure, I'd like to be the woman stuck in Florida who has extended her dog's stay another week because she doesn't expect the roads between here and there to be good for a while, but she's the exception. Although, to be fair, he probably balances out the few bookings that will be cancelled.

Second, my daughter is a 9-1-1 dispatcher and she's been warned to pack a bag and be prepared to spend the night. That's a whole host of headaches that everyone has to figure out how to deal with. Do three little girls come here and spend a night? Does Ma go to their house so they can at least be at home? What about the baby, who is still breastfeeding and is used to having Mommy before bedtime? And what about the girls in the morning, if Daddy needs to leave for work super early like he usually does? Ma's SUV may come in handy for negotiating the route, but how early is reasonable to get going?

Right now the plan is for me to travel today and see when roads are passable tomorrow. I'll be leaving home before the snow is supposed to arrive, but who knows when I'll come home. Which means I still get to drive in the snow if it comes. Oh, joy, oh bliss.

So I face the prospect of snow with no small amount of dread, much as I have for most of my adult life, regardless of how things have changed for me.

And while everyone else was rushing to the store yesterday to buy milk and bread, I made a stop as well. I bought wine.

Nothing Like a Snow Day to Mess Up a Plan

Of course, I no sooner realize how I need to work on getting my life organized than we finally get snow. And there's nothing to put the skids on a regular life for everyone like snow in the South.

Not a lot of snow, mind you, only an inch or so, but it's enough to seriously derail pretty much everything. Especially when the temperature takes a tumble to the teens and suddenly there are three generations snowed in at my house.

What started out feeling like an adventure to the little ones began feeling like a bad dream when they were asked to sleep at Ma's house Tuesday. Seriously, you'd think they had never spent time here let alone slept. No, they don't overnight typically (the last time was when E3 was born and 1 and 2 were here nearly a year ago), but Mom was here and it is a familiar place.

Wednesday morning we were all suffering from variations of sleep deprivation, including my three house dogs who for some reason felt it was their duty to patrol and keep tabs on all the sleepers through the night.

Heck, the snow wasn't even pretty falling and didn't even amount to enough to enjoy for a snowman, even if it were significantly warmer. Still, we made the best of it. Tuesday, while Mom was sending me messages about the rapidly deteriorating road conditions -- she is a 911 dispatcher -- the baby went to bed and the girls and I bundled up in a gazillion layers and went outside.

The girls didn't have really high expectations for the snow since I don't think we've had a significant snowfall since the oldest was born, so the scrawny amount that accumulated first on the roads and driveway was enough to be entertaining.

They were delighted to follow bird tracks in the snow and examine the trails left by the yard dogs making their morning rounds. The snow was crunchy under foot and I was surprised to find it was so sticky that it made a decent snowball, but not nearly as surprised as they were the first time I pelted them. Of course, since they couldn't master snowballs, I wound up making balls that they used to pelt me -- well, try to pelt me.

E1, ever eager to experience more, had to sample the snow while little sis just got cold and snotty nosed. Still, we spent nearly an hour in the chilly temps and falling flakes before determining it was time to get indoors and thaw out. Well, that and it was nap time as well. Before going in, I let them try snow angels, although the snow wasn't really deep enough for a good impression. E1 declared they had made snow "whirlies" instead because their bodies and heads weren't visible.

It turned out not to matter a whole lot, since the snow kept falling and soon snow angels, bird and dog tracks, and any hopes of getting home for the night were lost.

Before we go further, I am a competent snow driver and have an SUV. However, after manning the 911 consoles for the afternoon, their mother wasn't eager to have them out on the roads. Plus, because of her role at the 911 center, she could get an emergency ride home or to my house without having to brave the elements in her mini-van. It was just safer all around for them to stay at my house, which only about three miles from work.

Safer, but not necessarily saner.

First of all, although our little house has three bedrooms and two baths, they aren't all functional as such. The master bedroom has become the children's playroom and the attached bath no longer has a usable tub (not an issue this time). The smallest bedroom has my husband's computer area, our Bowflex and a recumbent bike. The futon that once took a big chunk of the playroom got reassigned to storage two weeks ago due to lack of use. We just aren't set up to sleep extra people.

Still, we made the best of the evening.

After dinner, we made snowcream, scooping clean snow from the back porch where we hadn't been stomping around all day. Strangely, I had never made or eaten it as far as I know (I must have been a really deprived child but didn't know it.)

The weirdness started when Mom arrived and the girls realized they were not going home as usual. Despite the futon mattress on the floor in the playroom for 1 and 2, and baby's normal pack-n-play relocated to the smallest room, the evening went downhill quick. Only baby was happy with the change in schedule and went right off to sleep. E2 quietly fought it. E1 threw all variety of fits, including a panic attack because she wasn't at home with Mommy and Daddy...nevermind that Mommy was closer than at night at home. Mommy got to sleep on the sofa where she could hear all her girls and be harassed by my dogs who made regular use of the doggy door in our bedroom and were disturbed by the extra people in our house.

Morning was hectic. This blog, which I'm supposed to finish writing for the next morning before 9 a.m., is winding down at 12:34 p.m., although I did manage breakfast at a decent hour -- at least partially because I was fixing cereal and boiled eggs for the house guests.

Before Mommy left for work we had another snow outing, this time with a sled on the packed snow of the road. Once again, my deprived childhood comes to the front as I've never been sledding (not one of the things my dad allowed). We do, however, have a sled as a souvenir of my husband's childhood, so we put it to work on a small hill near the house. The big hill further away seemed too intimidating with preschoolers and a novice driver. It was also out of sight of the house, where baby was napping, so unnacceptable. (Still, I would love to try it after finally getting the hang of the sled, so look out next time!)

So, just as it seems some routine might help, I throw routine to the wind. But then again, I guess that's what snow days, no matter what your age or issues, are made for. And maybe, after all, that's OK, too.