A Snow Day!

It began at 5:55 a.m. and I was ready. The morning news “snow show” began which seems quite funny to me since we were only blanketed by about two inches of the white stuff before it turned to sleet and rain. The coverage was a seven-hour TV event. Back in Baltimore, the snow show continued all day whenever there was at least six inches or a blizzard, but not for a dusting. This is the lamppost across the street and the photo turned out completely different than I thought it would. Geezzzz.

All schools and colleges closed as well as some businesses. Roads were closed due to ice and at least one hundred accidents. If Charlotte had more than ten salt trucks, we’d be in better shape. The real threat comes tonight because freezing rain is predicted and that always warrants staying indoors. Even this Yankee won’t brave the ice. Before the sleet started coming down, the view was so nice! It’s been two years since my last snowfall.

Michael left for work at his usual time and I just shook my head. He was back at 11am, though. I’m reminded of one of the several times he left for work in blizzard conditions. In January 1982, I was four months pregnant with Gina. We were having quite a snow storm that morning but he left for work anyway to make his daily commute from the Annapolis, MD area to Rosslyn, VA. This was the day the Air Florida Flight 90 crashed on the Potomac River Bridge in Washington, D.C. Four hours after he left, he stopped at a pay phone (no cell phones then) to tell me he was turning around for home, as he never made it to work. I watched the news coverage of the crash on TV and paced the floors. A few hours later, he called from a Gino’s restaurant telling me he should be home in about an hour or two. So I waited, sick with worry. Five hours later, past dark, he came through the front door and put his lunch box on the dining room table. My hormones took over and I threw that lunch box against the dining room wall where it broke into pieces. Yea, I was wild and dangerous alright. He never bothered to ask his standard question, “What’s for dinner?” He turned around and went outside to shovel the driveway.

Bella obviously did not remember what snow is like and flipped out. She flew through the yard without a care and begged me to throw the hula hoop.

After Chloe slid off the back steps and did a little tumble, she decided stay close to the sofa today. Bless her heart.

The feeder birds were sparring today. There was a lot of tension out there! A mockingbird took a break from the action and perched on a tree next to my front porch. My neighbor’s American flag background is kind of cute, I think.

So, after a few months of pining for snow, I got it, albeit short-lived. Within a few hours, it began to melt and turn sloppy and ugly. That’s when I decided I’m ready for Spring! Got my fix.