Snow, Snow and more Snow!

It’s funny how one’s perspective changes as they grow older.  Or, perhaps it isn’t a matter of age rather wisdom.  I’m not sure.  There was once a time when I looked forward to snow.  An occasional snow day was always welcome when it meant no school -- Hurray!

The other day someone on Facebook mentioned how quickly schools close these days, that when he was a child their hardly ever was a snow day.  I didn’t look where the man was from, but commented back that it was true, maybe school didn’t close for the threat of snow, or for small accumulations, but I remember some storms that required several days of no school.  There were storms that closed roads in my neighborhood for days, and plows couldn’t even get through.  They had to bring in back hoes to clear them.

We were a popular home during storms in those days, because we had coal heat.  It worked even without electricity.  We could even heat a can of soup on the grated vent, using the same heat that was heating our home.  The way I remember it, that soup tasted better heated that way than when it was heated on the electric stove.  Oh and hot cocoa, that was the best!

Then there are those who still remember walking several miles through seven foot snow drifts to get to their school – a one room school house in the back woods.  That was according to my mother when we spoke the other day.  They didn’t have to worry about heat either since most used coal or wood.  The only problem they had was dealing with the cold when they had to use the outhouse.

Yes, it is a matter of perspective.  While the snow storms I remember were worse than the ones we have today, we couldn’t afford to close school for little storms, or we’d be attending school well into summer.  As to whether today people are wiser or wimpier, well, that can be a matter of perspective too. 

A question I raise is: are our children actually safer being home from school when it snows?  I remember storms where just about everything closed.  It was a matter of snow, ice and power failures.  Even if parents worked, it was likely their place of business would also close in a large snow storm.  Not today.  My son once received a tee shirt for working at the mall straight through the blizzard of 96.  It was reputed that the mall never closed.

So if kids stay home from school, but business is open, I guess parents are left frantically looking for someone to watch their kids, or perhaps the kids are left to fend for themselves.  Then there are those parents who stay home on snow days because someone needs to be with their children.  For them it’s a matter of worrying later how they will pay the bills.

Perspective again.  There are those businesses who benefit from the cold and snow.  Think ice skating rinks and ski resorts where the white flakes represent money.  And the people who frequent those resorts who look upon their trip as healthy exercise and family fun.

Personally I never learned to ice skate or ski.  I could never imagine how one could navigate the rink or slopes while bundled in several layers of clothing.  When I tried to learn to skate I looked like a scare crow, arms stretched and legs straight.  My parents told me to relax, but I was relaxed beneath all that garb; after all, how could I possibly get hurt when I had so many layers of padding I’d never feel it if I fell.

Now sledding I might have enjoyed had we had a hill.  I had to be satisfied with walking through the snow, trying to create a path that looked like a design of sorts.  Think crop circles only white. That is until I had my first asthma attack, and that pretty much eliminated that for fun.

Nope, today, I know what I like most about the snow.  It’s a perspective I’m sure many share.  I curl up in my well-worn bath robe, the remote in one hand and a cup of hot chocolate in another.  If I’m lucky, my husband is beside me, which he should be soon.  He just called to tell me they are stopping work for the day because of the weather, which must mean it’s going to be a really big storm.

So stay safe everyone.  And to my relatives who are in Disney World right now, think of all the fun we’re having up here.  Have a safe trip home.  Or, perhaps stay until spring.  That is just another perspective.