The anticipation of a big snowstorm has always suckered me in, dating back to my childhood.
Who didn’t want to have a snow day off from school? Those days were few and far between growing up in Missouri. But every now and then, the Snow Gods would bless us with a healthy dose of white stuff.
Back then, we didn’t have an internet, so we would watch the evening news, hoping we woke to a winter wonderland. I would patiently turn the radio to the news channel and wait for them to go through the school closings. Since they announced the schools in alphabetical order, my wait could sometimes be long. You see, I attended the Parkway School District. The worst part was all the catholic schools we had in our area that began with “Our Lady”. “Our Lady of Blessed Souls”, “Our Lady of Perpetual Peace”. Who knew there were so many?
They would finally finish and I would hear the magical words, “Parkway School District is closed” and would jump with glee. Snow Day! My friends would come over and we would spend the day making snowmen, hurling snowballs at each other and sledding down the hill in our back yard. We would then tromp inside and make hot chocolate — you know, the real kind — hot milk with chocolate and tons of marshmallows (the real kind).
One time during my senior year of high school, we got especially blessed. A storm stalled over the western county area and we received 22 inches of snow! As I listened to the school announcements, they said words I’d never dreamed I’d hear: “Parkway School District is closed for the week.”
Yee haw!
I don’t get a snow day from work anymore, but instead I get a telework day. Which still brings joy — the joy of sleeping an extra hour in bed and the joy of wearing sweatpants and an old shirt to work in. Plus, it’s oh so nice to make a big pot of coffee just for me, and work in the confines of our loft with the wood stove going.
So, when the Weather Service forecast 8-16 inches of snow for Sunday-Monday, I had high hopes of my own personal “snow” telework day. But as of 10 p.m. tonight, it looks like it is not to be. Instead of our big snowstorm, we got a measly four inches of snow.
My husband, the meteorologist, cautions me every time.
“Don’t get too excited. Forecasts here are tricky, storms can go bust.”
But every time I get excited over the thought that this time could bring big snow.
Don’t get me wrong. During our ten years living in Nederland, we have had big snowstorms — 44 inches, 36 inches — plenty of big snowstorms. Some of those were even big surprises — not even forecast ahead of time.
Oh well, winter’s just getting started. There’ll be seven more months of chances for a “snow day.”
