Image Courtesy of Will Hughes Haddad Photography
I am watching the news reports of this endless winter. The constant swirling of white and pink on enhanced Dopplar Radar maps. Pictures on William's Facebook page and postings of waiting in airports and delayed flights. It is cold here today - but not the bitter cold of New England or Michigan, New York or Ohio.
I am thinking of you in the bitter cold.
Every year in the South we hope and pray for a few snow days - knowing full well that it will take next to nothing to make everything stop. I was in the grocery store a few weeks ago and said something to the checkout girl about snow coming over the next week. She frowned, pursed her lips, pointed her finger at me and said with a sneer, "Don't use that word in a grocery store." "Snow," I asked. "You did it again," she said. "Don't do that." And she meant it with a little grin. I know what she means. I have been at my Kroger on the evening before a storm. It is like watching preparation for Armageddon! People have more bread than they could eat in a month and strange non-perishables (Beenie-Weenies????) that no one really wants when heated on the electric stove, let alone ice cold from the can! What are they thinking?
They are thinking ICE. Because here, it is rarely snow that causes real problems or damange. It is ice. There is something about our geography - where we are in the middle of the Piedmont wedged between the Sandhills and Foothills of North Carolina - that makes us particularly susceptible to ice. Ice on powerlines never intended to support ice. Ice on roadways. Ice on bridges and sidewalks. Ice is the real concern.
But for us, this concern is almost over for another year. In a few weeks the first crocuses and daffodils will appear. The warmer, longer days will begin and before you know it we will be in the first heat wave and worrying about a long hot summer. Complaining about the weather may be pointless - complaining about the obvious is never a good idea - but it is a healthy pastime. I spoke with three people in New York City today - and every one of them talked about the weather! Who can blame them?
I will let you know on the first day we hit 70 degrees. You should keep me posted on when you hit 50! I remember those magical first "warm" days in New England, opening every window in the house on one such day...after all, it was 52!
Thinking of you - with only warm thoughts.
Amanda
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