Snow days? It’s become a snow season
Welcome to another weekend of Cabin Fever, and I don’t mean that gross movie.
I mean the gross weather. I’m still trying to decide just when the Ozarks agreed
to be annexed to Manitoba.
At least it’s just been snow this time around, and apparently the next time around that’s coming soon, and hopefully the time after. Snow, good. Ice, bad, very bad. We don’t need ice, except in glasses of tea, soda and adult beverages.
I’m sure by now folks have noticed this hasn’t been our typical Ozarks winter with a snow or two and a couple of weeks of really cold temperatures scattered throughout the three months of winter. Nor has it been a typical winter when it snows, stays on the ground long enough to get some pretty pictures, make a snowperson or two and maybe even sled a bit.
Nope. Since the week after Thanksgiving winter’s been knocking us up beside the head like a frigid Mike Tyson. I think there might still be a spot or two where there’s snow left from that first storm.
Now, I’ve never made a secret of my disdain for the cold. Winter’s OK. I can take snow in appropriate doses and appreciate how pretty it makes everything. But the cold, I can do without it completely. I like being able to feel my feet. I like having fingers that can wiggle. I don’t like being chilled to the bone, something I’ve really grown to dislike since on two occasions it proved to be a symptom that led to me being hospitalized. You could say it made me gunshy about feeling cold. I don’t even like getting into a cold swimming pool in the summer, so it’s a year-round thing with me. OK, I’m a wuss.
However, I’m willing to make concessions for the current state of weather affairs (as if I could do anything about it). I can stay indoors where it’s nice and warm, keeping my tootsies toasty, sipping on a cup of joe and finding ways to stay busy and stay awake. I can go to a movie matinee and not feel guilty about missing a good day outside. I can put on a big pot of chili, or gumbo, or whip up some chicken spaghetti for a comfort food supper. (I also can pester Kim for her comfort food meat loaf.) I promise not to bother the weather outdoors and just let it be.
So far, so good. I have taken a few photos, but the snow didn’t mind. And I have to admit it’s been pretty. In fact, when I got home from Sixth & Hickory the other night, I thought if this stuff is still around when the moon is full again it’s really going to look beautiful. Of course, I won’t be too disappointed if it’s gone by then, either.
I must admit, however, that staying in does have its limitations, too. Even with a marathon watching of the week’s “Days of Our Lives” episodes, or catching up on B movies, can only be tolerated so long. The body begins to ache for something to do that involves motion, but not necessarily the cold. The body wants to get outside, but it just doesn’t want get frostbite.
Maybe if I’d grown up someplace like Iowa, or Wisconsin, or someplace where there’s snow on the ground and it’s cold from the first of winter until sometime in the spring I’d have a different attitude, a different appreciation, of it. It’d be different if all of us in the Ozarks knew how to cope with this kind of weather every year instead of just every few years. Sure, we’ve been learning to adapt somewhat. Folks here at least can drive better when it’s snowy and icy than people in Atlanta where just an inch of snow made the freeways look like a live version of “The Walking Dead.”
I think it was Mark Twain who said everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it, or words to that effect. He was right. If it weren’t for the weather, we wouldn’t have conversation starters. And, we can’t do anything about it, except talk, gripe and plead with the universe for better weather.
So, you can see I’ve contracted a touch of Cabin Fever thanks to the gross weather, but still not enough to watch the gross movie.
At least it’s just been snow this time around, and apparently the next time around that’s coming soon, and hopefully the time after. Snow, good. Ice, bad, very bad. We don’t need ice, except in glasses of tea, soda and adult beverages.
I’m sure by now folks have noticed this hasn’t been our typical Ozarks winter with a snow or two and a couple of weeks of really cold temperatures scattered throughout the three months of winter. Nor has it been a typical winter when it snows, stays on the ground long enough to get some pretty pictures, make a snowperson or two and maybe even sled a bit.
Nope. Since the week after Thanksgiving winter’s been knocking us up beside the head like a frigid Mike Tyson. I think there might still be a spot or two where there’s snow left from that first storm.
Now, I’ve never made a secret of my disdain for the cold. Winter’s OK. I can take snow in appropriate doses and appreciate how pretty it makes everything. But the cold, I can do without it completely. I like being able to feel my feet. I like having fingers that can wiggle. I don’t like being chilled to the bone, something I’ve really grown to dislike since on two occasions it proved to be a symptom that led to me being hospitalized. You could say it made me gunshy about feeling cold. I don’t even like getting into a cold swimming pool in the summer, so it’s a year-round thing with me. OK, I’m a wuss.
However, I’m willing to make concessions for the current state of weather affairs (as if I could do anything about it). I can stay indoors where it’s nice and warm, keeping my tootsies toasty, sipping on a cup of joe and finding ways to stay busy and stay awake. I can go to a movie matinee and not feel guilty about missing a good day outside. I can put on a big pot of chili, or gumbo, or whip up some chicken spaghetti for a comfort food supper. (I also can pester Kim for her comfort food meat loaf.) I promise not to bother the weather outdoors and just let it be.
So far, so good. I have taken a few photos, but the snow didn’t mind. And I have to admit it’s been pretty. In fact, when I got home from Sixth & Hickory the other night, I thought if this stuff is still around when the moon is full again it’s really going to look beautiful. Of course, I won’t be too disappointed if it’s gone by then, either.
I must admit, however, that staying in does have its limitations, too. Even with a marathon watching of the week’s “Days of Our Lives” episodes, or catching up on B movies, can only be tolerated so long. The body begins to ache for something to do that involves motion, but not necessarily the cold. The body wants to get outside, but it just doesn’t want get frostbite.
Maybe if I’d grown up someplace like Iowa, or Wisconsin, or someplace where there’s snow on the ground and it’s cold from the first of winter until sometime in the spring I’d have a different attitude, a different appreciation, of it. It’d be different if all of us in the Ozarks knew how to cope with this kind of weather every year instead of just every few years. Sure, we’ve been learning to adapt somewhat. Folks here at least can drive better when it’s snowy and icy than people in Atlanta where just an inch of snow made the freeways look like a live version of “The Walking Dead.”
I think it was Mark Twain who said everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it, or words to that effect. He was right. If it weren’t for the weather, we wouldn’t have conversation starters. And, we can’t do anything about it, except talk, gripe and plead with the universe for better weather.
So, you can see I’ve contracted a touch of Cabin Fever thanks to the gross weather, but still not enough to watch the gross movie.
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