Monday, January 17, 2011

Snowville, Snowmageddon, and Snowcropolis: Winter Weather Update

News Alert: Southeastern USA hit by huge snow storm. Many citizens in Alabama & Georgia woke up on Monday morning to discover 8 to 12 inches of snow on their property.

For some this was a most unusual occurrence. Other than heading to their local grocery stores to stock up on milk, bread, and cookie supplies they had no idea how to cope with this amount of snow. Entire bread aisles were decimated. Only a few forlorn potato rolls remained.

And now, straight from the snow ditch, here is my Eye Witness Report:

*Southern school districts canceled school on Monday long before the snow began to fall. So on Sunday night a few neighbors got together to celebrate the snow storm threatening the region. We drank copious amounts of wine, ate foods laden with fat and cholesterol, then danced in the snow like giddy kids rather than behaving like grown ups.

*Monday morning I woke up and walked out into the Winterland. I had never expected to stand in 8 inches of snow again after moving to Alabama. I took pictures. I expressed aloud my awe at the serene white beauty blanketing my yard and neighborhood. My neighbor grumped, "It is just heavy and a pain." I knew I'd have to shovel, but I had three in the attic. And I owned snow boots. I'd lived in the North. I was prepared.

*Monday morning continued: I shoveled snow with help of tired teen. Darling Hubby was out of town for the week. We were alone, but we had hope that reinforcements would arrive. Grumpy neighbor finished his driveway and stomped back inside his house never to be seen again. Then our neighbors to the right emerged with their two children. The one year old cried when she stepped into the snow. The four year old climbed my snow mountains. They were incredulous about my shoveling. I persisted knowing all too well what would happen if it got packed by tires, melted, iced over again. Finally, the husband asked to borrow a shovel. Great, thought I. Help is on the way and we'll work together. Nope. Apparently my fond memories of neighbors helping out neighbors with the shoveling task threatened to remain merely memories. Onward ho! Teen and I dug out her car, parked it in the garage, I finished the driveway just as reinforcements arrived. But they reestablished my faith in humanity during snow events.  We finished up my neighbor's driveway, I loaned out all my shovels, one person returned the shovels along with a fine bottle of wine. She lived two streets over and was very grateful for our help.

*Day Two of Snowville:  School canceled. Teen got sick on Tuesday. We raced to doctor. Strep. We hunkered down and watched other people play in the snow while we watched hours and hours and hours of reality television. Teen slept a lot. I managed to write my word count goal.

*Day 3 of Snowmageddon: School still canceled. Teen feeling better. A diet of Anytizers, cookies, and ice cold lemonade helped her recuperate. I looked over at the wine rack. Plenty of wine remained. Now we watched movies, continued eating foods that were not in the milk and bread category, connected to our friends via the Internet. My GRWA friends were surviving. Their children had overrun their houses. Cocktail tours started earlier and earlier.

*Day 4 of Snowcropolis: Another "snow day." Ennui is setting in. The longer we sit around the house eating cookies and swilling our drinks, the less motivated we become. Teen is much better. We shower, throw on makeup, escape the neighborhood in my SUV, drive to Target, eat lunch at Atlanta Bread Co., and go to Hobby Lobby afterward. When we return home, I decorate for Valentine's Day. I need to see some color again.

*Day 5 of Snowland: School is officially canceled. Writers are barely making their word goals, myself included. Teen escapes to the theater with a group of friends. The roads are clear, but not in the eastern part of the city so while learning can't occur, watching  movies and hanging with friends is not a problem. I eagerly await Darling Hubby's return. A teenager is easier to manage than children under the age of ten during this kind of week, but I miss having "adult" conversation. When he does arrive home, he teases me and says, "You just missed your drinking buddy." Possibly true.

Snowmageddon is officially over. Disrupted schedules are slowly returning to normal. Church has resumed, meetings are being held, and school will be session on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday for us). Teen has Destination Imagination and HS Musical Rehearsal on Monday. I'm heading to the gym to try to undo all the damage the cookies and wine have done to my middle, and Darling Hubby is catching up on paperwork on his day "off."

Snow in the south is a force to be reckoned with and I hope I can put my snow shovels back in the attic for the rest of the winter season.

8 comments:

Alicia Hunter Pace (aka Jean Hovey and Stephanie Jones) said...

So funny. My husband has lived in Wyoming and just can't quite get on board with snow mania. I, on the other hand, love it.

When I got up Monday morning, he was cleaning off the sidewalk and steps. "Why are you doing that?" I asked him. After all, the snow never sticks around. He sighed and explained to me what happens when snow gets walked in and refreezes.

I have loved it but I'm ready for it to be gone. I feel like I'm living in Southpark.

I hope we have more.

Christine said...

Hi Jean: Your hubby is a smart shoveler. I am done with snow. If we have anymore snow days, I'm afraid we'll lose days out of Spring Break. I already have my full vacation booked and paid for so I will not be staying here even if they ask me to stay with my child to make up the days. I'm saving all my parent excuses for that week!

Mary Curry said...

Congrats on surviving the week with your sense of humor intact. The snow IS lovely at first but I find the ever present piles and dirty slush lose their appeal pretty quickly.

Wishing you an early spring. :)

Christine said...

Hi MaryC: I know what you mean. The exhaust fumes and dirt get onto the snow hills and it is dirty. I remember when I lived in Canada loving the pristine white snow, but not the black snow hills. And Spring? Muddy, yucky mess. My mom and dad always did their long trips in April to avoid the ugly spring melt.

Here's to an early spring indeed!

:-)

Wendy S Marcus said...

Yuk! My daughter (13) is just getting over a bad case of strep throat. She was so sick, I felt so bad for her, and for me because I was convinced I would catch it. But so far I haven't! And she's finally feeling better! Glad your daughter is, too.

Christine said...

Wendy: Hugs to your daughter and you! My girl has a long history with Strep. The doctor gave her a shot of pure penicillin. It worked really really fast. No fooling around. Wow. She was better in 30 hours. That was a first for her.

I hope your daughter feels better soon and that you don't pick up the strep!!

Stay healthy cause I need to be able to celebrate your debut novel with you!

Robin said...

Ohmygosh, Christine. I can't even imagine. I wish I could send you some of our California sunshine! This was a fun post to read, though, your sense of humor and warmth always comes through.

Christine said...

Hi Robin: Thanks for wanting to send sunshine. I could use some. It rained all day. Now it is foggy. Darling Teen was home with an upset tummy due to medication. I think I almost lost my sense of humor LOL.

Hope your writing is going well!!

:-)