No Snow Days
By Kevin Gray
Just think, I was out in the yard with our dogs last Thursday evening in my shorts and a T-shirt. And when we were on a nice long walk late that afternoon, Diane asked, “What’s that sound?” I knew what she meant, and we both said at the same time, “Kids!”
From several directions, we could hear children playing outside. Some were on a trampoline, others running between houses, and who knows what was going on out-of-sight. The sound of kids outside and having fun was enough for us.
The unseasonably warm days, we knew, would not last, which is why we had made sure to make time for the walk. I had also worn warmer clothes in case of a sudden cool down. After all, it’s still wintertime.
The winter weather of late has been on my mind. Watching what happened on the East Coast brought back memories of last Christmas and that hefty blizzard that blew through eastern Kansas. As long as I can stay in and not have to get out in heavy snows, I love it. Meaning no shoveling! Love every bit of it. But once I have to shovel and drive very far, then it’s another story.
Don’t get me wrong. I like to drive in snow. Always have, since the days in my first car, a VW, and always will.
But, when distance enters into the picture, I’m not so excited. Christmas Eve 2009 was beautiful. We were safe at home and as warm as our old house will keep us. Christmas day required a drive to Diane’s parents in Atchison. I knew I could do it, the roads were in fair shape in some places and nothing I couldn’t handle.
The drive went well, even if we did get stuck behind somebody in a parking lot in Olathe, but upon arrival in Atchison, I had to shovel to get into the drive. My in-laws’ house sits on the south edge of town behind the Maur Hill dorms. Right at the top of an open area of rolling, snow covered hills, and playing fields.
Snow continued to drive itself up and over that slope, exactly where we had to find the drive to pull in.
In these conditions, I always carry two snow shovels (in case one breaks) or I have somebody else to shovel. I had to make enough of an opening to get my Dakota off of the main road. And, then, another to make a bit of a walking path.
If you haven’t gotten the point yet, I’ve really, really enjoyed this Christmas and the days following.
And, so, I watched the news of the 2010 blizzard on the East Coast. I understand their pain. New York City’s emergency storm plan didn’t function right. Airports were canceling flights at historic numbers. Oh and the pictures of traffic nightmares and people shoveling cars out of snowdrifts were all over television and computer screens.
Many of my friends from North Carolina to Maine have been posting snow pictures on their Facebook sites. Most of the shots have come from Virginia and from New Jersey. Picturesque and just perfect for that Bing Crosby White Christmas moment, you know, where you are safe and don’t have to go outside, unless it’s to ski.
I reached one conclusion, though. One of real sadness, which brings me back to the kids. What a storm, a real monster, and it landed at Christmas time. Not New Years. Can you imagine the excitement, if the East Coast had been hit like this on New Year’s? I can hear those kids and their teachers now, when they realized: SNOW DAAAAAYS!
Maybe, just maybe, the kids will luck out with one snow day or two. That is, if our warm spell failed to make it that far east. But, then, a million people showed up in New York City to watch the ball drop. They had to have gotten in somehow, which doesn’t look good for the school kids and even one snow day somewhere.
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Posted by admin
on Jan 5 2011. Filed under Kevin Gray, Opinion.
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