Winter Wonderland

At long last, winter has taken away the residual summer warmth from the air in time for rain clouds to blanket the sky, and our area finally saw its first snow of the year! Granted, nothing stuck for more than an hour, and the precipitation could be scarcely given a more serious label than “flurries.” Being so late in the season now, I’ll take whatever I can get at this point, so merely watching those fluffy wisps of ice crystals drifting gracefully down to Earth was enough to keep me enthralled throughout the whole day.

Dreaming up countless activities for what I hoped would be a school cancellation due to snow the next day, I went to bed with thoughts of snowmen and warm layers of hats and scarves teasing through the folds of my brain. Every time I voice my desire for a snow day, my audience of the moment always reminds me in a grave tone, “You know you’ll just have to make up that time in the summer, don’t you?” As far as I’m concerned, the oppressive heat and endless, indifferent days of the summer vacation don’t even hold a candle to the free time awarded thanks to the harsh conditions in which buses are liable to slide right off the streets in winter.

Yes, I could see it now: Snow falling in sheets, coating houses and trees in a thick layer of powder. So cold that even the animals would be dressed up in thermal coats, enjoying themselves in a winter wonderland just as I had craved all year long.

Of course, by the time I awoke, not a single flake was in the air, on the ground, or otherwise visible. All evidence of any precipitation from the previous night had vanished while the world slept, and the school buses continued to run on schedule, ambivalent toward their missed opportunity to take the day off along with the rest of us.

I remained hopeful regardless, and even though the typical work day went like clock-work after that particular shower, we awoke with snow on the ground once again this very morning, appearing quietly without anyone the least bit aware.  My mom turned on a light outside when I told her the news, only to announce it was a “light dusting,” but at this point, it looks like it could be 3 feet deep to me.  Having lacked snow for nearly the entire season, I’ll take what I can get.