Monday, February 8: Let it irk.

Snow. Ugh.

In anticipation of another snowstorm beginning tomorrow, I thought it apropos to share my thoughts on the white flakes that are so willing to grace us with their presence of late. When most people think of snow, they romanticize it. For kids from 1-100, snowfall is generally the subject of great anticipation.

They think of all the fun it brings! They envision:

• Days off of school
• Snowpeople
• Hot cocoa
• Sledding
• Forts
• Snowball fights
• Sleigh rides
• Snow angels
• Catching snowflakes on the tongue

Be clear. You will not find me waxing poetic here about snow. I am not a fan.

When I think of snow, I think of:

• cold
• snow falling down the back of your shirt/coat
• alllllll that gear you need to perpetually don
• mountains made in parking lots (like the one in the picture above)
• yellow snow
• brown snow "stuff" in the shoulders of the roads
• ugh....snow.
• treacherous sidewalks and roadways
• the annoyance of clearing off my car
• the annoyance of getting out of my parking spot once I've been plowed in
• cycles of melting and refreezing causing ice--black ice too
• slipping and falling and busting your hiney on some patch of pavement somewhere
• inconvenience.

One of my roommates from college, Samantha, was at West Chester on the National Student Exchange program. She was born and raised in the Bay Area--Vallejo, California. Samantha went on endlessly about the snow..."Oh, Karen! I just can't wait for it to snow! I've never seen it in my whole life! What's it like? Tell me!" I shared the one major benefit of snowfall--cancellation of class--and made every effort to enlighten her that snow is lovely...in a photograph.

Once snow finally graced us with its abominable presence, (pun definitely intended--I'm a huge Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fan, what can I say?!) the excited chatter continued from Sam's side of our second-floor dorm room. "It's so beautiful! Let's have a snowball fight! Karen, can't we please go out and play out there? Won't you please go with me? Look at all those people having so much fun in the front of our building! Let's go do that with them. Can't we make a snowman?"

I was not going anywhere in the snow that day. Especially not while snow was still actively falling. Samantha eventually decided to leave me behind and venture out of doors to appreciate the "beauty" of the snow while visiting the take-out style cafeteria. I was set with Ramen. She returned, delighted, and was disappointed in me for being so sour to something (in her opinion) so lovely.

Within a day or so, her attitude had changed. She fell. And hard too. She had a mighty bruise that resulted in her referring to her left leg as her "bum leg" for a week or so. Moving forward, the commentary was much more my speed. "Stupid snow. Stupid ice. Makin' me fall and get this bum leg. You all are out there having fun in the snow now, but just you wait...you're gonna fall and get a bum leg too. You'll see."

Bah-snowbug.