Friday, February 10, 2006

The sky is falling


Anyone who has lived in the South knows that snow fall is a big deal. Grocery stores are packed with nervous customers who empty the shelves of milk and bread. Schools close at the first site of snow flakes and employees leave work early eager to avoid the harsh road conditions that are soon to come. If there is actually some accumulation of snow, every hillbilly in the state feels the need to go out and drive the streets, a problem perpetuated by the fact that snow road crews are almost non-existant and the roads turn into a big, slippery mess.

I remember those days as a young child being glued to the t.v. in hopes that school would be canceled due to the half inch of snow that splotched the ground. More often then not, it seems, it was. And then I moved to Nebraska.

The only snowfall in Nebraska that is worthy of mention is the first one of the season, and only because it takes everyone a little time to become accustomed to driving in those less then ideal road conditions. After that, it's just snow. And school is hardly ever cancelled. It doesn't matter if there is foot and a half of fresh snow on the ground and a wind chill of -15. Life must go on. It's just snow.

So with my broadened perspective of winter weather I can look with amusement at the Arkansan's reaction to snow. Today was one of those days. It started out with a slow steady rain fall. And as the day progressed, the rain turned slushy and then into giant snowflakes. Schools were cancelled left and right and everyone rushed home to wait out the "Winter Storm". The snow continued until about 3:00 pm and has since tapered off. It was beautiful while it lasted - almost like the world had become a giant snow globe. But it was over all too soon. And all that is left is a dusting of snow and 10 minutes of the half hour local news broadcast dedicated to the Winter Storm of 2006.

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