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Winter Break
Snow along the Blue Ridge Mountains is always a beautiful thing to see
Once every four or five years, we get a good snowfall where I live.
Today was one of those days.
When you only do something once every 4 or 5 years, it's not a chore
It was the best kind of snow -- it dumped about a foot overnight. I woke up around midnight to the sound of thundersnow, which is an incredibly awesome thing to witness. As the snow plummets from the sky in skeins, the world lights up with lightning and shakes with thunder. There's something about the combination of snow and thunder that's especially powerful. As moving as a regular storm is, thundersnow reaches a deeper nerve.
But it got even better. Once the sun rose and everything was canceled, temps rose above freezing. Kids could come outside and build snowmen and have snowball fights. The once dry snow quickly became six inches of wet, packable construction material.
Fall colors linger into Spring, mixing with the colors of the deep snowfall
This type of mush is even harder to drive in than regular snow. It's more like mud. And as I learned in the Marines, you can get anything stuck in mud, including tanks.
To make things even better, my neighbor got stuck in my driveway. Poor thing, all he had was one of those fancy new 4-wheel drives. So, being the charitable sort that I am, I got into the old '83 Jeepster and set about pulling him out. There's nothing like a nerd with a fun toy that includes a winch and some poor sap for him to play tow truck driver with.
All is not gravy, however. My flight to a client's location was canceled. I had to reschedule important events. Tomorrow, snow or not, I'm busy in the home office. The salt mine calls before you know it.
But today? Today is about as good as it gets.
hacker
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Daniel Markham
I remember when I lived in Manhattan and the streets got covered in so much snow that no one could drive. The stillness of the city made big, bad Manhattan feel like an old neighborhood.
I kind of wish it would snow where I am, in Santa Monica. But only once.
Thanks for the comment, Andrew.
There's something about snow that quiets things down. No doubt that it has a sort of magic to it.
As for living in Santa Monica, I've always heard it was one of the most beautiful places on earth. I know I've had enough snow for a while!
I love that part of the country.
Great post and awesome photos:)