A Southern Surprise Snowfall

I love how Mother Nature has her way of surprising us again and again.  Every winter here in the south I wish for just one big snow event.  One that will close the schools down and make travel impossible so that we all can stay home for just one snow day and play, drinking warm drinks, and eat something decadent and comforting  foods.  Usually by the time March gets here I am over the whole winter idea.  I am usually sick of the cold rainy winter season that we have here in Tennessee.  By March I am ready for springtime and I lose any desire for snow or ice, or snow days.  And more times than NOT, March is when we get hit with it and I am caught off guard and surprised every time.  Even a metrological prediction of the possibility of snow in March I tend to disregard as suspect.

Last Sunday night we got about a ½ inch of ice topped off with a couple of inches of snow.  The ice was the kicker and it brought our town and state to a standstill.  The Governor closed all state offices at about 10 am the day after.  Better late than never I suppose.  My surprise day off work included working on a puzzle and baking brownies, two things I rarely do.  My husband worked from home as he often does, and later in the afternoon we went for a brief walk in the snow, ice, and 20 degree temps.  I discovered that even though the ice and snow can cause issues that the South is not as prepared for as our Northern citizens, I do so enjoy a little bit of that frozen precipitation.

The winter wonderland that the snow and ice can bring is beautiful.  Thankfully we did not get so much ice to cause a lot of power outages or a lot of damage from falling trees.  Everything is brighter outside due to the white covering.  Even at night the street lights are not needed due to the brightness the snow.   Our midtown neighborhood is strangely quite, with less people on the roads and the low temps keeping folks inside.  The only disturbing sounds were the cracking ice in the trees when the wind would blow.   Another aspect that I love about snow events is how everything that gets covered by the snow appears so clean and softly rounded by the accumulated snowflakes.  Even the most unkempt junk yard looks better covered in snow.  The softness that the snow covering bring provides an easy backdrop that makes everything seem nicer in a way. 

About 4 months ago I purchased an AWD vehicle; the occasional snow day is why I did.  Ice is ice, but for some reason the AWD gives me the confidence that I needed to drive in those elements.  The main streets were easily passable with at least one lane clear, but parking lots, secondary roads and side roads, driveways and turning lanes are literally sheets of ice.  The weather forecast is for above freezing temperatures today, which will help to clear away all driving surfaces.  Our little snow covering all together will be gone from sight in less than a day, but that little snow event brought me a lot of joy and surprise.