Snow.*.*..**

It's been snowing for almost a week straight. If I heard someone say that, I would begin to picture the blizzards of yore, with their 30 inches of snow dropped, near white-out conditions, and traffic nightmares. Or perhaps of being trapped in the house for so long you are left with only ramen to eat, or your left shoe, and you are seriously considering how boiled left shoe would taste, perhaps with salt or lemon-pepper seasoning. The 30 inches of snow is not the case here. We've had snow off and on since Monday late-night, and have seen maybe 3 inches of the white stuff fall onto our porches, yards, or cars. All of said snow has been either the fluffy white flakes that resemble small cottonballs floating towards earth, or the really itty-bitty shiney crystals that make everything sparkle in the light of the street lampposts.

It has been a long time since we've had appreciable snow before Christmas, it seems. I seem to recall only one or two truely "White Christmas" situations in the last ten years or so. Should I blame global warming? Perhaps there is a global shift of jet streams? El Niño? La Niña? I have no idea. I do know I'm thrilled to look out my window and see the white stuff silently falling from the sky. The world outside my window is grey, it's about sunset now and we've almost entered that surreal time where light and almost light combine to create a bit of a dream world. I almost don't mind having to sit at my computer all night working on my homework.

I can only hope and pray that the current pattern of snow holds all winter. Maybe not snow every day, because I really like the cold sunny days of winter too, but nothing like last winter where we had a few ice storms, one major (6 inches) storm of snow, and a bunch of piddly little half inch falls in between intense, bitter cold. I want at least 4 to 10 big snowstorms this winter, including one where over 2 feet of snow falls in one stretch. I want fluffy snow, and small glitter-snows, and heavy, wet, snowball snows. I want to have to shovel a bunch (this has nothing to do with the fact that I'm paid to shovel :P ) I want a real midwest winter with lots of snow and stories that I can pass along to future generations. Sorry if I'm waxing maudlin on everyone, but I remember when I was 6 it snowed so much (and lots of blowing too) in 'ole GB that the snow drifted right up to our roof in the back of our house. My dad went outside and packed down the snow into a suitable sledding run off the roof and through the yard. My little brother and I played quite happily back there. We built a snow-dragon we could ride and had many an adventure on him. He was quite happy to carry us wherever our imaginations could take us. In the front yard, there was so much snow built up at the end of the driveway from both our shoveling and the street plows, and compacted in such a manor, that we had two snow forts. One by the mailbox, and one on the other side of the driveway. Sometimes they were castles and sometimes they were battlements, where our snow missles could be hurled with enthusiasm if not percision.

I'm not too old to play those games again! I want to build a snowman in the front yard even bigger than the last one Katie and I made in GB where we needed to devise a leverage system to place his torso and head upon his lower section. I want to put on boots and snowpants and go to como park and build snowforts with friends, complete with snowmissles. Maybe we could even coax the snow dragon to return amongst us. I want to put same snowpants and boots (and jacket and hat and mittens and scarf, of course) on and go sledding down a hill on a 2 dollar generic sled. I want to be able to USE my skis this year. I realize that all this wishing and hoping is going to cause royal traffic problems, so I hope that all people out there realize that snow means slow (see the resemblance of words there? I don't believe it's a coincidence.) That way everyone can enjoy the snow and we won't have to worry about accidents. Mostly, I'd like to go home for Winter holidays, and wake up to celebrate with my family to snow falling in an already white yard. Maybe this is the year.