Saturday, December 26, 2009

Winter Wonderland

by Nancy

We had a gray Christmas, not a white one, with rain most of the day yesterday. Not quite the ambiance we've been trained to expect. As the dh said, "No one wrote a song dreaming of a wet Christmas." And Charles Dickens didn't write about rain in A Christmas Carol. We would've liked just a bit of the white stuff--a few flurries, perhaps, though the boy believes "snow when [he's] out of school is wasted snow."

I imagine those of you looking at anything from multiple inches to a couple of feet of snow may wonder if I know what I'm saying, especially if the snow canceled your travel plans. And I do understand that snow presents anything from an inconvenience to a confounded nuisance to a danger. Yet snow has always had a mystique here in the central Carolinas, probably because we have it so seldom. I've had snow on the brain lately, in part because of my new fixation with the Times of London website, which featured snow so heavily this past week (including the Dickens article in the link above), and because of the nasty storm crippling the central US this week. However, I actually got the idea for this blog while watching the dh's favorite holiday movie, A Christmas Story, yesterday afternoon.

At the end of the movie, the parents sit in the darkened living room with light coming only from the tree lights and from streetlights shining through falling snow outside. And they comment on the beauty of the scene. It struck me then, obvious though this may have been to others, that it isn't really the snow that's beautiful, at least not for me. It's what light does to snow and vice-versa.

Light shining through or reflecting off snow gives it a fairyland sheen. The snow covers the bumps and rough spots of the ground underneath, diffusing the light so everything glistens as though it had a magical coating. The shadows become more obvious than they would be on grass, and there's an aura of magic about the whole thing. At least for those of us who don't live with in week in and week out. I suspect this is all a matter of perspective, but I did enjoy looking at photos of snowy scenes from around the world.


Ice is dangerous--ask anyone. We've had ice storms here that brought down limbs on power lines and roofs and caused terrible hardships. Black ice caused a horrible bus crash in Cornwall last week. Yet seeing the sun shine through that ice coating a limb gives it a silvery, ethereal beauty made all the stronger because it's fleeting. That very sunlight that creates the beauty will soon destroy it.

Snow used to be a "get out of school free" card. Around here, we know we don't understand how to drive in snow, so most of us try not to. Yet there are always people who have to. For them, I'm sure, the snow is not so much a beauty as a nuisance. When I had to drive to work on snow-over-ice, I didn't love it so much. Still, I fondly remember sledding down a slick street with my friends in high school. No one else was out, and I worked up my courage by starting halfway down the hill and then going progressively higher. Because my companions were lifelong friends, nobody gave me any grief about being afraid of speed.

What about you? Is snow a blessing or a bane to you? Or both?

In the spirit of Boxing Day, I'm boxing up and sending to one commenter a duplicate soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl I somehow acquired. It's still in the packaging, but I don't have the receipt, so it's offered unused but "as is." I also have a signed copy of Warrior's Lady donated by Gerri Russell and a copy (not signed) of Don't Bargain with the Devil donated by Sabrina Jeffries.

This is my last blog post of 2009, so Happy Boxing Day and best wishes for a healthy, happy 2010!

83 comments:

Unknown said...

Come home to me old golden one!

Unknown said...

Great post! I do agree with you that snow is beautiful, but I don't like to travel in it. We have also had rain here in KY but its turning cold again now! We also get a lot of ice storms which are pretty to, but last winter cause us to be without power for several days. I would not want to repete this any time soon. It was really bad here! Just give me tempts between 50 and about 75 and I will be happy!

I hope every one had a wonderful Christmas!

PinkPeony said...

Hi Nancy! Congrats, Virginia!

We're in CA and today, it was in the mid sixties, sunshine and clear skies. T-shirt weather! Hubby barbecued the turkey in the backyard. I've had one white Christmas in my life..in my teens, my parents owned a cabin in the Sierras and I remember sledding on the hill near the cabin all day on Christmas. Strangely enough, my sister showed up at our house tonight with the old family toboggan. She doesn't want it anymore but felt we should keep it in the family!

Keira Soleore said...

My perspective of snow has changed over the years. When I lived in Wiscosin and flew out in March to interview in Seattle, the sight of rain, 50-degree temps, and flowers entranced me as did the greenery and mountains, while back home it was sub-zero and snowbound.

Now, I'm tired of the unending dreary weather and long for the cold, dry days, which mean sun and snow and clear. Having the snow makes the days and nights brighter. Constant cloud cover makes days like twilight and nights pitch dark.

Virginia, you got it! Congrats!

mariska said...

We don't have snow here :) But we do have lots and lots of palm tree, rambutans, and so many tropical fruits*g*
I couldn't find any sign of Christmas celebration in Lampung. Weird?
HAPpy Holidays to All of You!
*packing for my trip to Palembang, tomorrow morning*

Keira Soleore said...

Banditas, I'll be offline for the next few days. Very busy here. See you in a bit!

Blodeuedd said...

Happy Boxing day(had to google it again, I do it every year)

Oh I love snow, and I do confess I laugh when I see the chaos in other countries for something I would call a heavy frost. But then I grew up with a lot of snow, and I love it. No winter without it

Helen said...

Congrats Virginia have fun with him

Nancy loved the post and the pictures.
I really haven't been in a lot of snow I was 18 when I saw it for the first time and I know if can be dangerous but lots of fun as well.

I had a wonderful Christmas Day and Boxing Day but it started raining at lunch time on Christmas day and hasn't stopped. I drove home this evening from my sisters place and it rained for the whole one and a half hours of driving but I am home now and loving it I am just about to get some chocolate and read for a while before getting some much needed sleep.

Have Fun
Helen

Maureen said...

Happy Boxing Day!
Snow does make everything more difficult and I am perfectly content when we don't get much of it during the winter but when it's falling or right after it has fallen it does make everything prettier. That's why I was outside taking pictures last week on the morning after the big snow. My dh, however, had no such appreciation and when I was done shoveling several hours later my aching shoulders and arms did not appreciate it either.

Deb said...

Nancy, thank you for a great post. I like to watch the snow come down, too, beneath the light of a street lamp. I like the sparkling beauty of new-fallen snow.
Last week, after our blizzard, my husband created a sled run out in the backyard and a short run in the front yard. Our daughter and her friends had a ball!
I really like snow. But, today it will be a problem. My daughter decided to go home with my parents last night (an hour away) and the plan was for my husband and I to go get her today. We have now been issued a snowstorm and the snow has been coming down hard all through the night. So, she may be spending another night and I'm not sure what she will think of that.
Snow days from school are great; you have to make them up at the end of the year, but they are still great!

Gillian Layne said...

Nancy, snow is beautiful and a pain, too. The roads were passable yesterday, which was all I could ask for, but dangerous, which is never good on a traveling holiday. The funniest part is that until 24 hours before the snow hit, no one expected it. Pretty typical for the midwest.

We have one more Christmas today, then we are done. The girls are dying to break the sleds out. Happy Boxing day--and sales days!--to you all. :)

Dianna Love said...

Hi Nancy -

I love snow because I grew up in Florida and have never lived any farther north than Atlanta. We enjoyed when we used to go snow skiing in Colorado, but I always felt for the person who had to shovel the walks and the people who had to deal with driving to work in heavy winter conditions.

I do think snow and ice (when it isn't dangerous) is beautiful and magical. You have a good point about the "lighting" making it really special.

We had rain in the Atlanta area, too, but it was a nice quiet drive to see my MIL yesterday so I didn't mind.

Hope all of you had a terrific Christmas.

Deb said...

I fogot to mention, Nancy, that we had an ice storm almost 3 years ago that left us without electricity for 6 days and nights; some people in rural areas went without for 3 weeks. "Camping" in the basement where it was warmest and living by candlelight was not fun.
Beautiful photos; thanks for sharing.

Minna said...

Oh, snow is definitely both a blessing and a curse. And right now the weather is awful, so there might be some power cuts for a change.

Virginia C said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Virginia C said...

Hi, Nancy! I live in the beautiful mountains of Southwestern Virginia. When I was a child, our Winter snows started in November. They were heavy, lasting snows. Over the years, our weather patterns have noticeably changed, with the snows now coming late in December or early January. How I loved those snows of my childhood! Staying home from school, building snow people, sledding and having snowball fights. My grandmother always made hot cocoa and peanut butter cookies : ) Those were truly golden days! The snow that we had here just before Christmas this year was a beautiful, dry-powder snow. I wanted to make snow ice cream! There is some remaining snow on the ground, but the roads are clear. The mountains still look as though they have been sprinkled with confectioner's sugar!

Kirsten said...

I love the idea of snow!!! This is however not to be confused with the genuine thing. It is often a beautiful and magical in its soft white crispy sparkling state. In movies or Christmas songs I LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it!. The more the merrier on TV or radio. But not in the real world. On the few occasions we had snow here it did 1 of 4 things. One, it melted before it hit the ground never leaving that loving blanket. Two, it turned to mud in no time leaving a great big slippery muck letting me fall on my bottom more than once. Three it was SO bad and so dark outside I couldn’t see a thing and got lost. Or four it was light enough to see but way TOO much snow. I couldn’t get out of my home and when I finally did it felt like wading through a thick cold wet ocean, nearly impossible. So I guess that if you would ask me would you like some snow? I answer with no thank you. And when pressed to have a slice I would say, maybe a tiny bit. For I do like it in moderation. But as it goes about creating so much discomfort and dangerous situations for people I think I stick to: Dreaming of that white Christmas.

Dina said...

Hi Nancy,

It rained all day here in Wisconson too, but at least we still had a white Christmas w/ the snow that stayed. Today it's snowing again. I love snow, just not 10 or more inches at once, lol.

EilisFlynn said...

Around here, a white Christmas (like the one we had last year) is always a terrible thing! Seattleites can barely drive in wet, let alone white! But if you don't have to go out and can huddle in your home, a white Christmas is okay. But I agree with Virginia, tempts between 50 and 75 would be splendid!

Merry Christmas, Nancy!

Margay Leah Justice said...

Nancy, I love the snow - when I'm looking at it through my living room window. Seriously, I love the way the snow looks when it's draped across the tree limbs and blanketing the ground, I just don't like having to shovel it or drive through it.
Margay

Nancy said...

Virginia, enjoy the rooster!

I hear you about the ice storms. Big chunks of the city lost power a couple of years ago after ice storms broke off tree limbs, which, in turn, brought down power lines. Not a pretty scene.

I like cold weather in winter, but mid-twenties is about the most I can tolerate. I visited New York City last November, in a wind chill environment of 11 degrees (Fahrenheit) and decided this was far, far too cold for me. I once was there when the wind chill was three degrees and had to hunker down in a tub full of hot water to get warm again. We do DO three degrees around here!

Nancy said...

PinkPeony, what beautiful weather! We once visited my dad's brother and his family in Florida over Christmas, and I ate my dinner outside at the picnic table, wearing shorts. It felt very strange. That's the only Christmas I ever spent with those cousins, though, so I remember it well.

Nancy said...

PinkPeony, I forgot to say that the dh's family has a toboggan--which they used to ride down a mountainside in Colorado's Front Range. With a pond at the bottom. Uh, a bit too "on the edge" for me.

Nancy said...

Hi, Keira. Dreary days with a lot of clouds would be hard to adjust to, I think. My last visit to Seattle had bright, sunny weather--but it's so far north of here that I needed a blanket at night, much to the amusement of my hosts.

Nancy said...

Mariska, your trip sounds wonderful! What's a rambutan?

Nancy said...

Blodeuedd, I read the comments about weather on the Times website, and many Britons were complaining that their country was paralyzed while the Norwegians moved blithely about in heavier snow accumulations.

I guess it's all relative. Driving in snow is an acquired skill. My dad used to go out and put chains on the cars, but then if you leave the chains on after the snow melts, it's bad for the tires.

Since the dh grew up in Colorado, snow is nothing to him. His biggest problem is watching out for the non-Coloradans doing foolish things in it.

Nancy said...

Hi, Helen--Glad you liked the pictures. I had fun hunting them.

I'm sorry about the rain, but it sounds as though you've had a wonderful holiday.

Nancy said...

Maureen--ah, the shoveling! I'd forgotten about that part. Snow really is pretty right after it falls, but when it partly melts and then freezes, it's a problem.

I've always liked the line from the song "Camelot:" And there's a legal limit to the snow here, in Camelot.

Of course, I'm a sucker for almost anything Camelot-related.

Nancy said...

Deb, glad you liked it.

The sled run sounds like fun, but I'm sorry your plans have changed because of the snow. I hope everything will clear up enough to make travel safe by tomorrow.

KJ Howe said...

Nancy, great question for a Canadian! LOL I'm not a huge fan of snow because I'm spoiled rotten and get my fill. However, there are times when I sit looking out my backyard and sigh at the beauty of freshly fallen snow as well. Guess it's a love/hate relationship...

Happy Boxing Day!

Nancy said...

Hi, Gillian--We're already in the aftermath. The dh went to the post office with run of the mill mail, and we're driving south tomorrow to pick up the boy's girlfriend.

As with Black Friday, I hide from 12/26 sales. Can't deal with the crowds, but I wish all the bargain hunters great success!

Nancy said...

Dianna, I hope your Christmas was fabulous, too. I had to smile at your comment about Atlanta. People around here say all our worst snow comes north from Atlanta. On those (very rare, as you note) occasions when you have it bad, odds are that we will, too.

I'm already looking forward to the seminar you and Mary Buckham are doing for GRW in April. Just waiting for registration to open.

Nancy said...

Deb added: "Camping" in the basement where it was warmest and living by candlelight was not fun.

No, I imagine not! Our worst ever power outage came when Hurricane Hugo swept north from Charleston and took out massive numbers of trees, which downed vast numbers of power lines. We had no phone for ten days and no power for two weeks. We passed the time playing Scrabble by candlelight. I still can't look at a Scrabble board!

Nancy said...

Minna, I hope your power holds up!

Nancy said...

Virginia C., those do sound like golden days! Last April I drove south from West Virginia through snow. It was sticking on the hillsides but not on the road, making West Virginia and the Virginia mountains beautiful and not especially dangerous. I was sort of disappointed as I drove south and left it behind.

Nancy said...

Oh, Kirsten, what a mess! You make a great point about the difference between the idea or dream of snow and the facts of it.

I love the scene in the movie Camelot where Arthur and Guinevere meet, in a snowy wood. But actually slogging through that much snow in the Middle Ages would have been very Not Fun, even for royalty and their entourages.

Nancy said...

Dina, the dh's SIL is from Wisconsin! I don't know where, though.

So you had rain turn to snow? We often hope for that, with the proviso that we'd like it to be enough that everything shuts down or else melt by early morning.

No, having ten inches doesn't sound like fun!

Nancy said...

Hi, Eilis! As a Washington State native, you must have lots of experience with snow. I hope your weather will be nice for the holidays. I doubt you're going to hit 75, though.

Nancy said...

Margay wrote: Nancy, I love the snow - when I'm looking at it through my living room window.

Exactly! Or I like walking in it, if it isn't too deep.

The dh makes snow sculptures. He's very disappointed if we don't get enough to make something a couple of feet tall. He once made a snow Stonehenge. Last January, he and the boy made a yin/yang sign in the snow. Prior to that, his biggest hit was a snow dragon (takes a lot of snow for that!).

Beth Andrews said...

Nancy, it's raining here which is melting all of our snow *g* We had a white Christmas (as usual) which is always nice but honestly, I'd be happy if we didn't get snow for quite so long. Usually we have the white stuff from late Oct to late March and sometimes even longer :-)

Jane said...

Snow is lovely is when it's fresh and powdery, but the clean up can be a big pain. The snow is cleared by sanitation pretty fast in the city, but it might take longer in other areas.

Margay Leah Justice said...

Wow, Nancy, they sound awesome. My father-in-law does sculptures, too, but he uses ice - big blocks of ice. He does them mainly for First Night in Boston now, but he used to do them for other occasions, too, like banquets and weddings.
Margay

Anna Sugden said...

Sneaking in to wish you all a happy Boxing Day!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas - ours was wonderful!

Sadly, the rain on Christmas Eve washed away all our snow ... wish it could have hung on for just one more day. Still, it was lovely and sunny, and not too cold.

Tending to the traditional Boxing Day soup (well, it's traditional in our family!) ... mmmm.

jo robertson said...

What a beautiful post, Nancy. Snow is indeed a mysterious, magical element which is so lovely to look at, so fun to cavort in when you're a kid. But the older I get the less I appreciate it.

When I was a kid, we used to make snow cream, "ice cream" from snow, by mixing clean snow, vanilla, evaporated milk, and sugar. I'm sure it tasted horrible, but we adored it!

Nancy said...

Beth wrote: Usually we have the white stuff from late Oct to late March and sometimes even longer :-)

Sounds like the dh's youth in the Front Range. Or his college years in New Hampshire. Snow isn't so romantic for him. He had a VW Beetle back then, and the salt on the roads rusted out the floor. It was like a Flintstones car until he took it to a shop, had them put a plywood floor, which meant bolting the seat in place, and called it done. Best he could do on a student budget.

Nancy said...

Jane, I agree about the cleanup. Of course, cleanup from anything fun is always a pain. A great party always seems to leave a mess.

Christmas trees are bits of fairyland in the living room, but the undecorating is really not fun at all.

Nancy said...

Margay, I would love to see your FIL's sculptures. I've never been to a party or event that had an ice sculpture. I guess it's too warm around here to have them outside, but I'd love to see one indoors!

Nancy said...

Hi, Anna--Glad you enjoyed your Christmas! I'm sorry the last of the snow has washed away.

Sounds like a great day for soup, though!

Nancy said...

Jo, I remember snow cream. My mom would never let us make it with the first snow of the season, though. She claimed the first snow purified the air or something. I never did understand it. But making it was fun.

Deb said...

We love "snowcream" at our house, Jo. Try making it with regular milk instead of evapo milk. During the blizzard two weeks ago, my daughter requested it several times a day!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Ah Nancy, what a beautiful and frightening post.

Having grown up in Columbus and now living in Texas, I've pretty much had to deal with ice storms for years. If it occurs during the night while I'm at work, I just hunker down and wait for the Texas sun to come out. While I agree this is beautiful and part of the reason I watch it, the other is more practical. The sun down here melts it pretty fast from the sidewalks and roads, so in about an hour it starts to become driveable.

If I'm home, and I know about the ice storm early enough, I just make soup, then drink some hot chocolate and hang around the house. One less person on the roads is always a smart thing.

What amazes me is the people who say, "I have 4-wheel drive" and go speeding off, only to wind up crashed into someone or something. One-wheel drive or 10-wheel drive doesn't matter. They're all gone slide on that stuff!!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Now snow is another matter.

We had an early snow day about ten days ago. Big fat, fluffy flakes of white fell during the early morning hours and was still falling when I walked out to go home from work.

What amazes me about snow, always has since I get to go out in it before the big traffic starts, is how quiet it makes everything. It muffles a lot of the sound. The world does seem still and at peace.

Joan said...

This first measurable snow is always beautiful. After that? Not so much.

And the fairy like glistening quality of ICE lost its appeal last year during (deep voice) The Ice Storm of '09!!!

Fairy? Probably the UNSeelie!!!!

Now, off to brave the winds of the Polar Express

KDSGS said...

Hi Nancy!

Well, I live in Central Canada, and we got hammered by that system that hit the central U.S., where we had just a dusting on the ground, we have a fair bit now!

Living in Canada, Snow is a part of my life, though, contrary to belief, it is not a total frozen wasteland, LOL!

I am originally from the east coast, Nova Scotia, and it is much milder there then where I am living now. They may go to Feb without any snow some winters.
But, they can get hit by a nor-easter and get slammed with 40cm of snow! (but it melts quickly)
I hate freezing rain, another common thing back east, I'd rather have snow to drive in!

Nothing like soft, flaky snow falling gently outside your window.

Happy Boxing Day!

Nancy said...

Suz, we have people here who feel immune in 4-wheel drives and SUVs. They also forget that the heavier the vehicle is, the more distance it requires to stop.

I love your point about snow muffling things, making it quiet. Around here, that's partly because many people stay home, but it's still due to the snow.

Nancy said...

Joan, I hope the winds of the Polar Express will not give you too much trouble!

Nancy said...

Hi, Drew! We would rather drive in snow than in ice, too. Especially if it's not sticking on the road.

We once tried to go to Nova Scotia, but we overestimated, as usual, the distance we could cover in a day. By the time we reached Bar Harbor, Maine, to catch the ferry, we had just enough time to take the ferry, step on Canadian ground, and take the next ferry back. So we decided to save that for another time when we could actually SEE something.

Pissenlit said...

Snow is awesome! It's like magic! I'd much prefer snow to the pouring rain we got yesterday. And don't blame it on the snow, it's the shovelling that's the bane. :D

Now it's off with my umbrella to go see if I can find a boxing day sale for yarn and maybe some new double pointed knitting needles at the nearby mall. Happy Boxing Day!

Nancy said...

Hi, Pissenlit--I hadn't thought about it, but at least rain doesn't need shovelling.

Good luck on your quest!

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, Virginia, he's still round yon Virginia, I see! Congrats!

Nancy, that was a great post. Growing up in subtropical Queensland, snow always had this amazing mystique for me. I remember the very first time I saw it, I went out and danced around like a lunatic. That was in London in 1985. Unfortunately snow in London is an absolute pain. It gets utterly filthy and freezes and refreezes until it's really dangerous to walk on. So the mystique went west fairly quickly. Seeing the beautiful pristine white blanket of snow out in the country still has magic for me, though.

Cybercliper said...

Oh, I do hate snow. I left the hills of eastern KY to get away from snow. Back in the day it seemed like there was more of it. Schools used to let out for the holidays and we kids didn't get to go back until mid February or sometimes later.

Of course my plans didn't completely pan out. I joined the military to get away from the snow and cold and got sent to S. Dakota (where it snows sideways) for two years before they shipped me to Anchorage, AK (where I saw 60 below wind chills) for three more. I'm settled deep into the warm heart of south Texas now and unless it some kind of emergency, I don't leave it till spring time :-D

gigi said...

Snow is lovely but I love the warmer weather of South Georgia. When I was a kid a used to pray it would snow.
I dreamed of snowmen and snowball fights.
The last time we had an inch of snow where I live was 20 years ago this Christmas.
Now that I am a grown up I can see all the trouble with snow. High heating bills, dangerous driving conditions and lots of shoveling the white stuff.
But it still is beautiful stuff.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Gorgeous Piccies, Nancy!

But snow and ice? NO THANK YOU!

We had a lovely sunny Christmas Day here yesterday and today it is gray, overcast and spitting a few drops of rain. :-( I WANNA GO BACK TO PUERTO VALLARTA!

Grumpy Aunty C
who had snow cream once and did not think it tasted much like the homemade ice cream that was promised. :-P

catslady said...

I love love snow for Christmas but hate it when driving conditions are bad. We got snow finally a week before Christmas but it rained on Christmas day. Except for a few icy mornings the roads were okay so that was good. The weather has been very weird lately. (all that global warming I guess).

Nancy said...

Hi, Anna C.--Thanks. I do think the mystique of snow is inversely proportional to how much of the stuff a person has to deal with. The melting and re-freezing was apparently a big problem in the UK this past week. And probably will be in our Midwest.

Nancy said...

Cybercliper--Your comment reinforces my point about mystique being inversely proportional to exposure. The dh loves the fact that we have four distinct seasons here, as opposed to winter, a short spring, and summer.

It's ironic that the service sent you exactly where you did not want to go, but at least you live someplace nice and warm now.

Nancy said...

Gigi, I never saw the problems as a kid either. I just cared about getting out of school. Back then, we didn't have teacher work days, and teachers had fewer reports to do, so we went to school from just after Labor Day to just after Memorial Day. The school year has gradually gotten longer, I think.

Nancy said...

AC, you cannot go back to Puerto Vallarta. We miss you when you're gone. Besides, you haven't given the cabana boys the recipes from this lat trip.

Snow cream never tasted like ice cream to me--just like slushy sweet stuff. Has to have vanilla extract in it.

Nancy said...

Catslady, I'm with you. I love the snow IF I don't have to drive in it.

Linda Henderson said...

Snow is beautiful, but since I use a walker it's not fun to get around in. We had a white Christmas this year and according to our local weatherman that only occurs here every 8 or 9 years. Thank goodness. I also have to worry about my pregnant daughter falling down on the slick spots so snow is not something I want to see much of this winter, or any other for that matter.

Nancy said...

Hi, Linda--I can see why getting around is a problem.

We had a big ice storm a couple of days before the boy was born. I was worried about getting down the steps to the car, and so was the dh. Advanced pregnancy has enough balance issues without ice, too. I hope everything goes well for her. And for you in getting around before all the stuff melts.

Fedora said...

Hi, Nancy! Snow is a rare and exciting thing in our part of the world--the kids love it; we went to play in snow for the first time last year, and our oldest decided that he wanted to move there permanently. (We grown-ups laughed and flatly refused.) I think it's beautiful if you don't have to go out in it. Otherwise, it can be an unfortunate hazard! Thanks for all your wonderful posts in 2009, and hope you have a wonderful intro to 2010!

Congrats on the GR, Virginia!

Nancy said...

Fedora, thank you for the kind words and the good wishes. I hope we'll all have a banner year in 2010!

I agree--snow is much better if you don't have drive in it.

Kate Carlisle said...

Lovely post, Nancy! But you might as well ask if I prefer 70 degrees versus 60, because those are the choices around my neck of the woods right now. The snow looks so pretty but I'm such a wimp, I know I'd turn to ice in half a minute.

Hope everyone is somewhere warm and toasty right now, preferably sipping a hot toddy!

Congrats, Virginia! The GR makes a wicked Hot Buttered Rum!

Nancy said...

Thanks, Kate. The GR makes a great hot buttered rum, you say? Why did I not know this?! I must have a word with Sven, our bartender in chief!

Pam P said...

Snow is really pretty as it first falls,watching out the window under the moonlight, or even street lights, and I do like to see it on Christmas. The problem is when the temp drops right after adding dangerous ice, or when you get the messy slush after, or a huge blizzard. Maybe we are best off dreaming about it,lol.

Nancy said...

Pam P., dreaming about snow is certainly easier than shoveling it!

Llehn said...

Ooooo ... Pirates of the Carribean! I've never had snow, so I would think that snow is a blessing. LOL. I suppose it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side!

Nancy said...

Llehn, you've really never had snow? Never had to shovel it? The dh would be so jealous!

I suspect there's a big "grass is greener" element in people's feelings about snow. :-)

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Really enjoyed your ode to snow - here in eastern Canada, it's almost forbidden to admit you think snow is beautiful. So many grumpy snow-shovel-loathers out here... But I've always thought all the same things about how snow transforms everything into something magical. I'll always love it.

Michelle Santiago said...

hi nancy!

never having seen or experienced snow, i can only imagine how beautiful or how troublesome it can be in some situations. but reading everyone else's comments is making me feel more envious than usual--i'd love to experience snow whether good or bad.

yes, it does snow on maui, up on haleakala but it always melts after a while and it's a chore driving up there. last week, it did rain ice here one day (which was a first and a very rare occurrence at sea level but of course i slept through it :(

happy [almost] new year everyone!!

Kirsten said...

Great blog, Nancy! Happy 2010!

mariska said...

Sorry to be so late to answer your question Nancy,

Rambutan is a tropical fruit. here's the link about it :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan