Thursday, February 13, 2014

Making Memories of the Moments: Snow in the South

The warnings came. The bread and milk flew off the shelves in stores. No shovels in stores. No camp lanterns. No space heaters. The warmth loving folks in the South were told there was a big one coming through and they tried to ready themselves and their families.

Schools shut  their doors in preparation long before the flurries arrived because they did not want to risk having children and staff stranded with no way home or to risk their traveling on snow or ice slicked roads to reach their destinations. And the kids waited. They didn’t wait in vain as will often happen in the South when a big one is predicted. The snow came. It came fast. Kids’ hats, gloves, boots, coats were put on and they descended on the back yards of the South and frolicked in the white, powdery miracle.

I had been saying for several years that we were long overdue for a big one and storm “PAX” has not disappointed. Kids on playground sets with slides in backyards in the area - kids who have long outgrown the slides - were sliding down them. Dads brought out the riding mower (tractor) and hooked up a pull rope and now you have a snow skier being pulled (a.k.a. picture a waterskier only on the frozen white stuff).  Dads rigged up small rowboats to trucks and towed kids for rides across the fields. And the ever present four-wheelers cavorting and rolling through the woods and yards exploring this Winter Wonder Land.

Snow Cream. Who hasn’t at some time or other enjoyed it as a kid? Moms across the South were making Snow Cream. Doesn’t matter if you don’t know how, you can Google it and find the particulars. A sweet young mother and her toddler made some and brought it to us. It brought back many memories of our own kids romping in the snow and my making Snow Cream for them.

Now the South awaits the final day of PAX. It is foggy, gloomy and a freezing mist is upon us with predictions of more freezing rain, sleet, or ice followed by a grand finale of snow this afternoon.

Yes, a big one came through and yes it really slows the South down. But many, especially the children, teens, and young parents know how to hunker down and enjoy it making memories of the moments secure in the thought that they had enough bread and milk to last until the last frozen bit is melted.

5 comments:

  1. I wonder what snow cream is? I'll have to google that! I hear it's brutal when there's snow in the south. I'm not sure what's more brutal, living up here in the Frozen Tundra (which has been VERY bad this year!) or having my dad call me from Florida saying, "It's a beautiful day in The Villages". lol I just tell him that it's late....he better get out and roll up the sidewalks. ha Then he tells me that he'd rather do that than to shovel it! ha Gotta love my dad. He's 80....will be 81 this year. Mom will be 69. She needs to stop teaching and enjoy herself and my dad. They raised 9 kids.....they deserve to have fun!!! Sometimes I wish I lived down south where the weather is nice!! I can dream though.

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  2. I live in Ohio where it snows all.the.time. Sigh! I would have loved to see my niece and nephews faces when they saw snow for the first time. There is something magical about a snowfall. Especially when you don't have to go anywhere. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.

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  3. Yes, all the bread, milk, and batteries fly off the shelves with a prediction of snow. Since few know how to drive in the snow in the South, it is best to stay at home and hope the power stays on.

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  4. Many years ago when we lived in Atlanta I remember getting up at 3 or 4 am to take my kids out to play in the snow, because usually the snow was gone by 9 am. They loved it and I remember one time picking my son up from school and it took me 2 hours to get home from the school less then a 15 minute trip because the ice had sheeted all the hills and driving was horrible, I remember doing a 360 on interstate I75 in Atlanta when I hit black ice, we were all fine, but it scared me forever, I hate ice worse then snow. Snow cream is made with the second snow of a season and it is fresh snow, milk vanilla and stir and eat my boys loved it.

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