...or is it Snowmageddon? Snow-a-rama? Snowopolis? I've seen various terms tossed around on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, so I'm not entirely sure that any one of them applies more than any other. But just having the discussion in the first place strangely brings me comfort.
My language issues notwithstanding, I thought this picture was kinda neat. I had been shovelling a bit around the driveway, and accidentally brushed my elbows against the ginormous snowpile on top of my car. (Disclosure: I really like pristine, undisturbed snow. I feel a little jot of stress when a perfectly formed surface of snow is ruined. It strikes me as needlessly messy. My name is Carmi and I am snow-retentive.)
After staring at the results for a few minutes - a very cathartic few minutes - I concluded that my Henrietta now reminded me of one of the human-faced vehicles from the Pixar movie, Cars (and, presumably, the upcoming Cars 2.) Maybe that snow-retentiveness of mine is starting to ease.
Oh, yes, the snowpocalypse: The entire city will spend another day in hibernation tomorrow. It's Snow Day #3, and our children are beside themselves with joy. I admit I like it, too. This is one of those tremendously rare experiences that they'll hold onto well into adulthood, and I'm enjoying watching it through their eyes.
Your turn: Do you remember a major weather event from your childhood? Do tell!
Posts
16 comments:
1978 (i think) late march early april. huge storm. schools closed for.ev.er...or three days.
my father was traveling and was snowed in at his hotel..
we had home-made mac and cheese for like three days...
and made huge snow tunnels till my sister tattled on us and my mother got all freaked that they would collapse on us...
yeah...it was awe-some (sing-song voice)
bruce
stupid stuff i see and hear
and
bruce johnson jadip
Oh my gosh yes in Michigan we had them a few times. Everyone got around on snowmobiles. But here in the frozen tundra of Minnesota the city crews are so well equipped and experienced that we seldom have snow days here...last Friday the snow hit hard again, and travel was treacherous and very slow but the next morning life regained it's normalcy again!
"snow-retentive" LOL
Your Henrietta looks like our Baghette looked back in February during the Washington DC area Snowpocalypse. I'm not-so-secretly hoping for another one this year, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy yours on this blog.
I recall one year of my childhood when we had significant snowfall. We lived near the bottom of a hilly area, significant enough to have downhill skiers using the streets, and it was definitely some awesome sledding. I loved walking on top of huge snowbanks created by plowed streets and shoveled sidewalks. It nearly doubled my height.
Oh yeah, growing up in Michigan I definitely remember a few. The one that sticks out most was the time we got snowed in the house. Snow drifted up so high on the screen door (it opened 'OUT') that it couldn't be opened.
My Dad had to open the bathroom window and lower me out. I was the only one both small enough to get through the window, yet old enough to dig us out. The snow wasn't that deep everywhere of course, just the porch area.
Oddly enough, my mother does not remember the incident. I continue to argue with her though, because I recall it vividly. I was somewhere between eight and ten and it was a HUGE deal to me.
I miss the magic that snow could bring when I was young.
There's No-Opalypse like Snow-Opalypse...
~
Probably ... 5 years ago, we went to Florida (the beach pictures I posted for the theme of Night)for Spring Break, late March. When we left, the temp had been in the mid 60's for several days. The day before we came home, the mid-western U.S was hit with a snow storm and temps of lower 30's. You can imagine the looks we were getting as we walked through O'Hare Airport wearing our shorts, tank tops, and flipflops.
Does an earthquake count for major weather? I suppose not, but in Southern California (where I grew up), there wasn't much else to call weather, unless you count drizzling rain twice a year. We never got snow days, but we got RAIN DAYS... in which case the principle herded us all into the cafeteria and showed us a movie! Can you imagine if they had rain days in Switzerland? It would be movie day three times a week!
In Calif. where I live, snow is a rarity... We had just moved into an area considered desert- not typical since we're citified...I remember it had gotten really cold, and the air had that 'howlly' sound... I was on the freeway and was told told by sheriffs to get off the freeway and take the roads, I had never driven over light snow... Remember, I'm a Cali girl...I had just picked my kid up from pre school and the morning looked like night... The funny thing is, it seems everyone in town had gone to every source that sold film... Guess everyone wanted a piece of 'snow' pics as evidence.... It only lasted a day... My neighbor waited patiently in his driveway cuz, he needed to go to work due to a deadline he had.. The kids played w/the snow- actually, it was frozen gutter water... Cali kids, running barefoot and throwing frozen gutter water... It was the same night my pre school kid fell from the kitchen chair and her bottom teeth went almost thru her top lip...The day after, we still could not get out, so a neighbor threw a spaghetti party!.. Nothing like wine, Paul Newman sauce, garlic bread and families chillin'....
I can't even imagine that much snow! We had monumental flooding here in the Southeast in 1972 when I was a kid and I remember a good bit of the city being under water. On the interstates, all the medians were full and sloshing up onto the highway. It was surreal.
In the Rocky Mountains, we get huge storms in cycles, some years there's not anything to write home about, and other years, we have 6-foot piles along the sides of our driveways.
The storm you're getting is a bit more than we've gotten in one shot in the valley where I live, but the mountains here get storms like that often enough that I'm not at all astounded.
Glad you've still got power and heat!!
Well I am traumatised by that photo, how dare you ruin that pristine snow :-)
see that makes me glad i live in FL
Hi Carmi,
I love your brief but full posts. I can always look forward to quality reading. It's snowing everywhere in the world it seems, except sunny central coast California! Stay warm and cozy and enjoy. I remember my mom making us snow cream from a fresh snow. Snow, evaporated milk and sugar. We loved it. (Before air pollution talk in the 50's and early 60's.)
It was mid October, a time that usually doesn't snow much if at all. It started around 6:00 pm, and as you mentioned with your storm, the lake effect was in full force off of the Great Salt Lake. I recall there was around 18" by the next morning. I was 17, had a beat up old rear wheel drive station wagon. My friends and I spent the night driving around in it. The streets were all but abandoned and we were driving sideways, doing spin out, seeing how much fun we could have. One of the main streets here is 700 East, four lanes of traffic each direction, I think we spent an hour doing eight lane wide donuts.
Thankfully for us the schools were closed the next day and I got to sleep in. I think it was that night that I got my affinity to driving in the snow. Still today I get excited when a good snowstorm hits even though I can't always get out at night to play in it.
-Mr
Oh, and I'm with you being "snow retentive" I love the look of untouched snow.
My Dad's birthday was on May 1st. One day in my early childhood...my Dad built snowmen on his birthday.
Talked about it for years afterwards as well.
He would be enjoying this snow....
Post a Comment