Snow Musings

I grew up in Maryland where snow was welcome at certain times of the year, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but then wished away as soon as possible. Most people had no idea how to drive in snow or how to manage it so everything came to a standstill. At the first prediction of snow people would rush to the store for necessities like bread, milk and toilet paper, cancel all plans that might coincide with fluffy white flakes falling from the sky, and huddle inside their homes until the terror had passed.

When I was in elementary school we had 36 inches of snow in a day or two and school was closed for the week. For the first few days the neighborhood was transformed into a magical snowy wonderland. We built snow forts and snowmen during the day, came in for hot chocolate and went back out after dinner to sled with friends and parents alike. Everyone enjoyed it until the isolation started to sink in. The neighborhood never got plowed and people had a hard time getting out of their driveways. My mom walked my sister and I to the High's convenience store with our sled in tow for supplies, only they were out of everything we needed. Apparently the county had difficulty plowing the main roads too.

The attitude towards snow in the High Country of Colorado is a bit different than that of the east where I grew up. Here snow is white gold and without it our community would bankrupt. Snow is essential to winter recreation and that is our primary commodity. People come from all over the world to recreate in Colorado's Playground (the state's slogan for our fine community)and if they arrive between Thanksgiving and March they expect lots of fluffy white snow.

Snow is celebrated here on a grand scale, not just for a few days but for at least six months. We have a festival to Ullr, the Norse god of snow, parades and pub crawls, snow sculpture events, fireworks and frivolity each winter in order to entice people to come and experience the best snow mother nature has to offer. The type of snow is described in detail, it can be powdery (the best to ski or board on), or corny (it looks like Styrofoam balls falling from the sky), or wet (east coast snow, high in water) but it is always welcome here. The towns know how to manage it, the buses don't stop running, school is rarely closed or delayed and locals can be found on the mountains at daybreak to get at it.

Today a winter storm is wrapping up and another is supposed to hit tomorrow. Nothing is at a standstill, schools are not closed and the grocery store has plenty of toilet paper, bread and milk. It's funny how different attitudes can be across the country regarding snow. If your lively hood, or vacation for that matter, depends upon it falling, it is embraced as a magical elixir or enchantment. Otherwise, it's just a nuisance that interrupts daily life and complicates getting around.