Snowbound

So, we had a moment tonight. See, they are projecting about 3 to 5 inches of snow overnight, and this is important since Carrie has to drive an hour on the interstate each way unless they cancel school.

In case you didn't know, I have been sick recently - yesterday was particularly bad. We went to the store and got some bottled water and a couple of 12 packs of Sprite. However, we also got some hot food because we were hungry, and neither of us were feeling up to going back out to the car to get the water and the Sprite, after we had already brought in the week's worth of groceries with our first and only trip from the car. Tonight I was thirsty, so I decided to put on my shoes and go out to get them from the trunk.

Well, it had started snowing at this point. Now, we live in Michigan - it snows. Sometimes worse than others. The December snow is always the best - it is the first snow of the winter, then you add in Christmas season, and it is magical. When you move into January, the snows are always coupled with temps in the single digits, meaning that even going outside can sometimes be a chore. February snow isn't as bad - you have enough warm days in the 30s that you think maybe it is going to be over soon. You also start to think that days with temps in the low 30s are "warm". March snow is like, I thought we were almost done with this. By April, any snow is just ridiculous.

The point being, after the fun of December snow, any subsequent snowfall can be an annoyance, unless it happens to be on a weekend. Carrie has to check in the mornings to see if she has school, and I worry about the short drive I have (twice in 8 years, people have failed to respect the lack of stopping powers their cars have in this weather, and have given me love pats. No real damage). They take care of the roads, and people don't run out to buy bread and milk here, and we live really close to a huge grocery store anyway, but still.

However, tonight, when I went to the car to get the water and the Sprite, I opened the door downstairs, and there it was - first off, you hear the "snow quiet". Like there is no sound except for the landing snow, even though that sound is negligible. It seems to mute any other noise, and you feel like the only person in the world. Then I looked up at a streetlight, and saw the snow gently falling all around. You can see every flake between you and the light, all falling at different perspectives. Something about it tonight made it feel like December snow - it wasn't too cold, the snow was wet enough. Most importantly, it had that magic feeling that snow can bring. It reminded me of the snow that had just started falling when I proposed to Carrie up in Traverse City.

Well of course, I went and grabbed Carrie. Understandably, she didn't want to go outside, so she fought me the whole time. But when she got outside and saw and heard the snow, she knew why I pulled her out there. And it made us both smile, and realize that we do still love the snow the way that we did when we were kids. It also reminded us of when we were first living up here, and every significant snowfall mean that we were inevitably going to go play in it. So, it was a nice moment for us to stand out in the falling snow tonight.

I promised myself that I would never become one of those Michigan transplants who just grows to hate the snow, and I remembered that tonight.

(The unbearable, never ending cold on the other hand...)