Snow!

It can be magical!  Some of the most beautiful sights I've seen have involved snow.  No, not the under-dressed young lady (she was older than I was) I picked up along the road.  I mean the landscape...the trees, the bushes, the mountains, everything.  Snow makes everything beautiful.

Snow can make you happy or it can make you tense, depending on the situation.  Snow has been a part of some of my best days and some of my most stressful.  When I think of the fun my friends and I used to have playing in the snow, it always makes me smile.  The BEST of those good times came at night.  We built snow forts and had major snowball battles.  We also went sledding at night--that was the most fun while it was still snowing.  Although, that was dangerous.  One friend got a snowflake in his eye, missed a turn and went head-first into a tree (he was okay).

And the tense times..I've already shared the story about driving my dad to the hospital when I was a teenager.  I have several other tense snow stories, including one (only slightly tense) that was supposed to be GREAT!  But, well...

There was a chance of snow and we needed a few things from the grocery store (including formula--my daughter was 6 weeks old).  But He Whose Name I Won't Speak (a tv weather person) told me DC wasn't getting any snow.  It was a Friday night and I was tired after a full week of working and night school.  I decided I would go to the store on Saturday.  Saturday morning we were snowed in! 

I spent the afternoon shoveling the sidewalk and clearing the car.  But the association had not yet cleared the parking lot, so I was driving nowhere.  My wife and I reviewed the formula and diaper situation...we could make it another day.  But what if the plow didn't show up?  Or it snowed again? 

I couldn't take the chance, so I set out on foot through snow that was up to my hips.  After about 250 meters of that, I made it to the nearby highway.  It had been plowed, so the two mile walk to 7-11 wasn't so bad--I just had to keep an eye out for trucks.  I made it to the store ahead of any other panicked  parents and bought formula, diapers and a gallon of milk for my wife.  The walk home was uneventful.  As I made my way back through the deep snow, I thought "Someday this is going to be a great story...maybe even my daughter's favorite!"

But it's completely boring!  I wasn't attacked by Manbearpig, or stalked or anything.  It was just a walk in the snow.  I should spice it up a little for my daughter, but I can't.  All of my stories are true.  I don't want to ruin that.  I probably shouldn't bother telling her this one.

My apologies for the boring story!!!  My next snow story will be more interesting