Snow Day

If you are from the south, snow is a 4 letter word that is actually welcomed.  More importantly, if you grew up in Columbia, South Carolina where winter doesn't really happen until January, and summer hangs around from April to November, well, snow is dreamed about.  No, it's prayed for.  So much so that people are glued to the Weather Channel, and if you're from Cola, to WISTV (who doesn't remember praying Jim Gandy, and later Ben Tanner, would have snow in the forecast, even it was only a 20% chance?)  So, because it doesn't snow often down here, we really embrace the flakes when they hit (all six of them).

Aside from the supply and demand factor, us southerners also love snow because it means something different below the Mason-Dixon than it does for northern folks.  It means CLOSINGS.  Lots of them.  You see, unlike the north, we don't actually have to commute and deal with the weather when it does hit.  It's pretty wonderful.  Make fun of us all you want, but I'm betting our northern friends would be happy to sit at home and enjoy hot chocolate by a warm fire while the kids have a snow day instead of spending the morning shoveling just to pull out the driveway. (And yes, it's true we shop for milk and bread and batteries until the shelves are cleared... but it's because we're thinking ahead.  We'd rather be sitting in our pjs toasty and warm than running out to the store for anything... plus snow means end of the world, apocalypse, be prepared).  And we don't have to have much of the white stuff for these closings to go into effect.  Accumulation?  A small dusting would get you delayed at least 2 hours.  An inch or more and we're talking a full day off.  More snow than that, well that's only happened a couple of times that I can recall in SC, but one of the times I remember Chapin High being out of school for an entire week for about a foot of snow. (something to do with the parking lot being iced over, and trucks couldn't get in to salt... who knows... but it was great).

Since moving from SC to GA, I've seen snow every year here.  The closings in the ATL area are not as common as they were in Cola, but the snow is just as pretty.  My favorite Atlanta snow happened earlier this year, when it got so cold and we got so much that people were ice skating down Peachtree.  For real.  That's unheard of! And now, here we are at the end of November, expecting an Atlanta wintery mix.  I guess you can take the girl out of SC, but not the SC out of the girl, because here I sit... checking the Weather Channel every half hour, peaking out my window, and praying for some of that glorious powder. 

All in hopes of that magical thing referred to as a snow day.  (oh, and I do have plans to hit the grocery store after work...)