Winter Weather Wonderland

Winter Weather Warning.  Snow Advisory.  Storm Watch.   At home, this means packed grocery stores and traffic the day before the predicted snow.  Pre-determined school cancellations, filling up the snow blowers, digging out the shovels from the garage.  Oh and don’t forget to take the ice scraper out of your car the night before, or else you’ll find a nice pile of snow on your seat upon opening the car door in the morning.

Black Ice.  Gusts of Wind.  Blizzard Warning.  No question, there’s no leaving the house for at least a day.  Run to the library before it closes, get a few books, movies, check the hot chocolate stash.  Make sure you have plenty of salt to cover the ice the next day.

Accumulations of 10-16 inches.  Severe Weather.  Pull out the hat, warm gloves, snow pants, boots, cuz this means you’ll be shoveling for at least an hour at a time, at least twice, but probably more.  Forget seeing friends, driving isn’t even an option.  If you want to cross country ski down main street, you’ll be the only one there.

When the snow starts, everything is quiet.  The trees stand still for just a minute, letting the white flakes rest on their branches, even if only for a minute.  The wind takes a break and the snow floats down to houses and fences and yards.  Street lamps illuminate the dancing specks in the air.  The town is still; for now, there’s no where to be but home.  The bustle will begin soon enough.