Nothing causes children in the Deep South to come unhinged quicker than snow. Or the sight of snow. Or even the promise of snow.
Saturday after Rebecca and I got back from her taking her test, Reba took her to go do some shopping. They didn't get back until nearly 4:00. In the intervening time, I did the clothes and stuff, and didn't really pay that much attention to the weather, mainly because I was pretty certain that there wasn't going to BE any weather--that intermittent sunshine during the day had kinda made me think that. The rest of the kids occupied themselves by piling up in their rooms to play, so if nothing else, the house was quiet.
After Reba got back, though--whoo-boy. They came in the door with a blast of cold air--"Hey, it SNOWED outside!"
"Hm."
"No, really--there's a layer like THIS on the trunk of the Volvo!" She held her thumbnail to the first joint of her pinky finger--which to most people would indicate a half-inch or so.
"Hm."
By this time, the other three kids came down the steps--Oldest: "IT SNOWED!? IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Imagine those ultrasonic noises dolphins and whales make. Then Boy and Cat started in, too, wanting to see the SNOWWWWW!
The garage door was still open so we could spend a couple more dollars trying to heat the neighborhood, and so I went out to the driveway to see this blanket of white. Which was awfully hard to spot amongst all the green grass and gray concrete and black asphalt. I looked at the trunk lid of the Volvo--being that this was the only place there was anything on it. There was a light glaze of frost on there, thin enough to where even the faded silver paint of the trunk was easily seen. A few tiny knots--minimoguls, maybe--dotted the trunk lid.
"Reba, I thought you said it had a layer like this on there!"
"WELL, AROUND HERE, THAT'S A LAYER!"
I suppose I can overlook a bit of the kid in her, so I figured it best not to tell her I've seen heavier frosts. In April.
The rest of the kids took turns running to every door in the house to look outside. "SNOWWWWW!"
As for those of you up there where it really DID snow, you have my permission to keep it up there for safekeeping. We're not used to it, and if you let us have it, we might tear it up or break it.
ANYway, there was a bunch of other stuff that went on this weekend, and I suppose I will get around to talking about it, if I ever get good and woken up.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 08:35 AMWe had a little more snow than that -- on and off -- all weekend, but not much more. Every school in town except hippie German school is cancelled.
Posted by: Jordana at February 13, 2006 08:42 AMTime to break out the snowshoes!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 08:51 AMWe had snow, but now it is just crusty bits of ice.
Posted by: Sarah G. at February 13, 2006 09:04 AM...and the slushy syrup!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 09:14 AMAwww, poor you folks. A whole dusting. Gee, did anybody hurt themselves shoveling? Have to break out those snowshoes?
Bah. Come back to me when you hit 27 inches, and you still have work the next day. (See my snow update if you want to live vicariously.)
Posted by: skinnydan at February 13, 2006 09:43 AMNow Dan, I've been telling you that y'all need to leave all that mess behind and move down here to the sunny South! As soon as all that stuff melts, you oughta pack everyone up and get out while you can!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 09:52 AMTerry, Dan is waiting until Rabbi Bubba certifies that there is enough kosher food in the state of Alabama to sustain a family of four for more than 12 hours. That might take a while.
Posted by: Jordana at February 13, 2006 09:59 AMHere in MD we say the kids are "freaked out," at least if we go along with the governor. Kathie was watching local TV yesterday morning and they had the governor on the phone, mostly to ask people to stay home. He mentioned that his older kid (who's about 6, I think) was out playing in the snow, but that the 2 year old had freaked out. I don't know how much snow was on the ground in Annapolis, but we've got about a foot here in Catonsville.
Posted by: steevil at February 13, 2006 10:14 AMOh, come on, now, Jordana--the Winn-Dixie down from my house has a whole display of fine Manischewitz products!
And for those who don't know, Steevil had to get out and shovel snow. I am disappointed that NASA does not provide its scientists with rocket powered snow blowers. It just seems like it would be the right thing to do.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 10:15 AMHere in the NC Piedmont we got teaser snow flakes - they look pretty coming down but don't stick to anything. The foothills and mountains got 2-6" though.
Snow falling (or the hint of it) does make watching the Olympics a little nicer, unless your event is "Shoveling without having a Heart Attack".
Posted by: MarcV at February 13, 2006 10:45 AMWe had a light dusting of snow, but my 9 year old was still excited.
Posted by: Kathy at February 13, 2006 11:05 AMYou know, a big block Chevy snowblower is about as cool as a Ferrari doing doughnuts at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 11:20 AMOh, and by the way, that's Rabbi Buford...
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 11:28 AMThat was a cool way to open the ceremonies, wasn't it? I caught that part and was way impressed.
I once saw (in person) Nigel Mansell doing donuts in a F1 Williams while waving to the crowd with one hand. That was worth the price of admission that day!
Posted by: Nate at February 13, 2006 12:27 PMIndeed it was cool--when it slowly drove off of the podium and out to the center, I said to Reba, "He BETTER be getting ready to start doing a big smoky burnout." Way cool. AND they had Sophia Loren--hard to do much better than that. Sorta made up for all the weird balloon things and junk.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 13, 2006 12:33 PM