Granddaughter is unimpressed (12/15/2008)

Thanks to a rare snowfall in Houston, my granddaughter has experienced her first snowflakes. She caught one on her tongue. She held one in her hand. She even managed to scrape together enough to make a snowball to throw at her mother. Then she announced that she was cold and wanted to go back inside.

So much for her first real snow.

I love snow. Wait. Let me amend that. I love snow as long as I am inside a warm house with plenty of provisions and I haven't seen the heat bill. I love snow when it falls like soft, fluffy doilies and quickly blankets the ground. I enjoy seeing snowmen when they are pure and white.

I don't love snow when I have to drive in it. I don't appreciate its beauty when it gathers dirt and pollution from its surroundings. I'm not fond of walking under a tree and having a handful of icy whiteness jump down the back of my neck. I hate the ugly "clunkers" that appear in the wheel wells of the car after the novelty of snow has worn off for the year.

Snow should be a part of winter. It makes me appreciate spring that much more. I have heard it referred to a "poor man's fertilizer" because it gathers nutrients and filters them slowly into the ground for future plants to enjoy. It also helps to conserve moisture during the dry winter days and releases it slowly when the sun comes out.

It insulates the ground and keeps it from freezing too deeply. It sounds odd to think of something so cold as having insulating powers; but think about it. It is the wind that makes it feel colder than it is.

Anyone who has built a snow tunnel or fortress of some kind knows that it is much warmer inside than outside where the wind is howling.

A good covering of snow helps keep the ground from repeatedly freezing and thawing. The freezing and thawing is what causes all the tulips and other bulbs to appear on top of the ground in the spring instead of staying where they belong.

Snow has a quieting effect on the world. It covers the ugliness and silences the din of everyday life. Snow is beautiful.

It should also be banned from falling on roadways and sidewalks. Shoveling snow causes red cheeks and occasionally heart attacks. Fresh cold air feels good - for about five seconds. Then I agree with my granddaughter - it's cold and I want to go inside.

Your opinion of snow is affected by where you live. I once knew a boy who was from upper Michigan. He was grossly disappointed that we didn't have much snow in the western Ohio town where we lived at the time. He wanted to ride his snowmobile but it didn't work so well on half-frozen mud. His parents eventually shipped him back north to live with an aunt or somebody.

I think snow should fall from the months of late November to early March. A couple of inches worth is plenty. There should be at least three or four days a month of above-freezing temperatures during that time. Temperatures should hover just under freezing and the snow should stay off the roads the rest of the time.

However, I am not in charge of the weather. Snow will fall when and where it pleases. It will float down on places that rarely see the crystalline substance as well as places that are frequently blanketed in several feet of the fluffy frozen water. Most places in the United States have seen snow flurries at least once.

Unlike the Christmas carol, I am hoping for a green Christmas. If it snows, I hope it isn't enough to make driving hazardous. There are flurries outside my window as I write. So far the ground is still bare and the sidewalks are safe. And I am inside, out of the cold.[[In-content Ad]]