"Snow"

I just heard that yet another Arctic blast is heading toward the Midwest, bringing a lot more of that wet, cold, icy, miserable, dangerous, slushy, disgusting "Snow" to a neighborhood near you!  You all have my deepest sympathies!  Stay warm and be very careful with shoveling and such.  Fork over a few bucks and get a hunky, 17 year old guy to do it!  I hope you will forgive me for being oh so glad that I don't live in that climate anymore!!

The only time that I have ever thought anything positive about snow is when it has snowed with big fat, fluffy flakes that coat the entire landscape in a pristine blanket of white and make it all look like an ice castle world.  That kind of snow can be pretty....as long as I am indoors in a warm, comfortable, cosy home, with a cup of tea beside me and a great book in hand.

However, as soon as that begins to melt and get grey and dirty, I lose interest in it pretty quickly.  If I HAVE to go out in it, I bundle up in boots, thick socks, hats, mittens, sweaters, parkas, and scarves!  I have on so many garments, that it is difficult to move, much less stuff myself behind the steering wheel of the car. 

The thing that I dislike the most about cold, wintry, snowy days is that the sky is unrelentingly grey!  The whole world looks depressing and I spend my time wishing people were like bears and could hibernate till Spring!!  Unfortunately, we aren't like bears and hibernating is impractical!

All those grey and depressing sights push me right down into depression hell! 
I may have written about this once before, but one of the greatest revelations of my life was the first time I flew out of Chicago during the dead of winter on one of those miserable grey days.  We took off directly up into the big ugly clouds.  The plane was bouncing around like crazy from the turbulence and wind.  I was pretty sure I was going to die.  (I am the queen of white knuckle fliers!!)

After about 5 minutes in the air, we suddenly broke through the grey clouds.  The plane leveled out and we went from bouncy to smooth.  I could breathe again!  Then I looked out the window.  Oh.  My.  God.  The sky was bright beautiful blue and that great big ol' sun was right there shining for all it was worth with warmth and light.  It was like getting a vitamin shot or something!  My mood instantly went from misery to amazement!

For some reason it had never occurred to me that there was anything up there on a grey cloudy day except the grey clouds!!  I guess I thought all those clouds went all the way up to the stratosphere!  What a dope!  All along my pal, the sun, was right where it was supposed to be, hidden from us by a bunch of clouds thick enough to block the sun from view.  I just couldn't believe it, but I was sure glad!

So for all of you who hare been buried and reburied under all the snow this year and are living under continuous grey, depressing clouds, take heart!  The sun is right above you, just like always, and eventually the clouds will blow away and the sun will work its magic to melt the snow. 

At least until the next snowstorm shows up.  In the meanwhile, may I suggest that you hop on a plane, fly up through the clouds to see the sun, and head south!