January Snow Shower

After leaving my volunteer job this evening, I decided to visit Borders Bookstore and browse the latest books, comics, magazines, and calendars. I still hadn't bought a calendar for my work cubical and wanted to buy a tasteful hanging calendar before all that remained dwindled to 'Hello Kitty' or'365-a-Day Republican Quotes'. I spent a good while looking around. Finally, I had purchased the Advocate, Genre, Clik Magazine, some trashy gossip mag, a bargain novel, and a coveted Pittsburgh Steelers calender. As I was leaving the store,I noticed it was snowing pretty heavily and I was quickly taken back to the winters we used to have here in PA when I was much younger.

It's funny how something so insignificant can take you back to your childhood. It's been a few years since we have a major snow storm in my part of the state. Ironically, a co-worker and I were talking about the big storms we'd always have as children right around Valentine's Day or President's Day. We don't get big storms like that anymore. Why? Is it because of global warming? Possibly. But walking out of the store took me back briefly to a time when I was a little more naive, less stubborn, and could enjoy the gentleness of snow shower. The thrill of the snow during the winter, hoping enough would fall to close school in the morning. Would enough come so we'd be closed? You'd hate to have just enough fall so you only had a two-hour delay! School delays were the worst. It only threw the daily schedule into chaos and lunches on those days always sucked. No. Only a school closing made everything seem right.

As a child it seemed so wonderful and mysterious. I have good memories of people putting chains on the tires of their cars or spending hours digging out cars parked on the street and setting a folding chair to let people know that was your spot (you don't see much of that anymore).

The snow seems different as an adult; its become a big nuisance. I never leave the house on time for work and for a job that never closes even with a declared State of Emergency, snow is just a pain in the ass that's going to make me even more late for work. It's lost its precious mystique to me. But for tonight, for just a brief moment, I remembered my youthful joy seeing white flakes fall from the sky, the cool crisp feeling as the brisk air bit at my face, and the feeling I'd never be warm again. It all makes me smile...