A Small Disappointment…

The weather here in Southwest Virginia is something that I love about the area.  It’s not warm year round, nor is it cold and we typically have four very defined seasons.

That is very important to me as when it’s July, I want to be hot, wearing my capris (I don’t wear shorts hardly ever) a tank top and any kind of open toed shoes that I can find.  When it’s December, I’m expecting to be all bundled up because it’s cold outside.  And Spring and Fall should be the transition phases in between and serve as a reminder of the season before and the season approaching.

The first time I moved to Roanoke, I was Samara’s age.  I was getting ready to enter the fifth grade and we moved here from Fort Drum, New York (near Watertown… about 45 minutes from Syracuse) and it was commonly referred to as the arm pit of the world.  I don’t know if it’s gotten any better in the last twenty-two years but it sucked then.

After living in upstate New York, having arrived there from Texas, I had gotten used to the cold temperatures and all of the snow.  Summer lasted for two weeks and spring and fall were fairly short as well.  It was just winter.  At least, that’s how I remember it in my mind.  For someone who despises being cold, it was horrible.

The snow drifts were bad as well and I can remember many afternoons that my younger brother and I would step off of the bus into a driveway that was clear when we left for school that had now drifted over and I would have to help him get into the house.  The driveway wasn’t that big, but big enough that a 9 and 7 year old thought they were trekking through the frozen tundra just to get into the warmth of the house where our mother would hang up our snow gear, provide a snack and ask us how our day was.

So after a winter of over 230 inches of snow, we moved to Roanoke shortly before school started.  The very first day school was cancelled due to a hurricane that had blown through, or rather, just the wind and the rain left over from one.

When my brother and I figured this out, that they cancelled school for rain, we were estatic.  Even though there were hundreds of inches in New York, we managed to miss only a half day of school.  This was going to be great.

And Roanoke is still like that.  The threat of snow will often close the schools and send everyone on a mad dash to the grocery store.  It’s almost as if they can’t handle the snow here, but we’ve gotten used to it since I’ve now lived here off and on for the past 22 years.

We’ve also gotten used to the mountainous terrain that will cause some areas to be a little more icy or covered with snow than others and since the counties shut down, if one school has to be closed, they all do.  We’ve had to watch for school closings and delays even if there is no snow in our front yard.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent my children to the bus stop to wait only to learn that the mountain was hit harder and schools were closed.

They are not happy to have stood in the cold waiting for the bus, but enjoy the time off.

As a child I enjoyed the snow days and delays and still today, I look forward to them.  I guess I should say that since I started working from home, I’ve enjoyed them.  Now, I’m just like a little kid when the snow starts in the early afternoon or evening and we’re glued to the TV to see if the county will be cancelled before bed.  If it is, that means that we can all sleep in.

So last night, when they called for snow, all of us got a little excited.  It’s rare for us to have snow before the first of the year and it’s been decades since we’ve had a white Christmas, but this morning when we woke up, there was snow on the cars, the rooftops and the yard.

“But the roads are clear mom,” Matthew said with a frown on his face.  Knowing that I needed to go and wake the sleeping beast also known as Samara I looked at him, somewhat hopeful.

“Well maybe the mountain got more.  Check the closings.”  And then I shot up a prayer.  I really didn’t want to deal with Samara this morning so a closing, or even a delay would have been wonderful.  She’s not a morning person, nor am I, however I can hold it together a little bit better than her.

The TV had many closings listed across the top of it’s screen while Matt, Ann, Al, and Meredith reported from the Ends of the Earth, and we waited patiently as the closings were scrolling.  Alphabetically listed, when we hit Pocohontas and Pulaski we knew that if Roanoke was affected it would be soon and both Matthew and I were on the edge of our seats, hopeful that we could just chill out for a little longer this morning.

Yes, it was a long shot, but if we were going to get snow this early in the year, it would be nice to reap a reward from it other than how pretty it looks covering the exterior of the house.

Sadly, we went right from Radford to Smyth with no mention of Roanoke so Matthew and I both arose from the couch and headed to take care of what we needed, I to wake the beast and he to get in the shower.

But the beauty of snow is that all I have to do is tell Samara that it snowed and she bolts out of bed to see what it looks like outside and to run to the TV to see if her presence is required at the elementary school.

Just like I expected, she sprang from the bed and raced to her window.  Her face lit up when her eyes focused long enough to realize that yes, it was white outside, and she flew past me to the living room to check the listings.

“You’re not delayed or closed, Sam.  Go get dressed.” I said.

“This stinks,” she said as she sulked back to her room.  But it didn’t matter, she was at least awake.

So even if we didn’t get to sleep in this morning due to the wintery weather, the morning wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting.

Until next time…