And then comes Thursday. I had read the prediction online for snow, chance of precipitation nearly 100%. I figured, however, that the precipitation we'd get would be rain. The snow would all melt before it got anywhere near the ground.
But for once, the weathermen were right! And we got snow. Not too terribly much, just about two inches, I believe. And it's gorgeous out there now. I wish the maintenance folks had had more forethought and sanded or salted the paths; only a few have been done. Ice on bricks is not cool.
It will all melt away today. It's supposed to get up into the upper 40s, and it's already 33 degrees. *sigh* I love snow.
Speaking of weathermen, I have been idolizing one of the local weathermen in this area for the entire time I have spent on this earth. It's sad, I know -- he's got to be close to my dad's age.
Don Slater is my hero. No kidding. Ever since I was little, I would love to watch WAVY 10 News just to see him give the weather report.
He amuses me to no end now. I love the way he talks WAY too quickly like he's super nervous. Or the times the camera has come on to him before he was expecting it, and he jumps a little when he realizes he's live, and laughs it off.
I love his voice. I don't know why. There's nothing spectacular or nifty about it, not like James Earl Jones's voice (I never knew, until a few years ago, that James Earl Jones was Darth Vader. He was just always the Bell Atlantic guy...).
I have no idea why I adore this man so much. But I always get really excited when he's giving the weather, and if for some reason Jon Cash or Jim Lawrence have to replace him, then I get a little disappointed.
God I must be crazy....
But I do love snow. I remember living in Nebraska and Illinois and always getting a fair amount of it. Waking up to Dad snowblowing drifts up to his waist and still having to go to school that day. Bundling my baby brother in his snow suit (he was so adorable!), and going out and playing in the snow. Actually having enough snow for a snow man, and snow forts, and snow tunnels...
One of my favourite things to do was just sit at the window and watch the snow come down. It's not like rain -- with rain, you can hear the drops hitting the pavement, which is a very soothing sound. But snow is silent. You stand at the window and hear nothing.
So then you go outside in the cold, shiver against the wind that bites through to the flesh, and just listen. And there's nothing to hear. The flakes just silently drift down to the ground and quietly join their compatriots already covering the earth.
The snow stops falling, and you go outside just to enjoy the beauty of the snow covering everything. Cars are just bumps under the drifts, the bushes are hidden under the few feet of snow that has just fallen, you try to remember the key features of the landscape but everything's erased.
And everything is still silent. The snow absorbs all sound, so there is just a void of sound. The world looks like it has been born anew into a snowy silent winter wonderland.
But snow is only good when it first falls. After a few days, it gets grimy from the dirt of the road, from the dogs' need to relieve themselves, from the dirt you accidentally shoveled up with the snow at the edges of the sidewalk. The top layer of snow ices over. Kids have played in it and walked through it, and then the snow just becomes a pain.
But the beauty remains... it's just a bit hidden.