Oh No, No Snow

Many people are posting pictures of a beautiful snowfall today, even those who live only 50 miles south of us. But alas, no snow here, unless you count a tiny bit that stuck to the grass and the deck and melted within an hour.

I miss snow. I miss winter. I remember times when we'd be snowed in for days here, with snow so deep we had to leave our vehicles a half mile away. When my boys would be out playing for hours, making snowmen, snow forts, snow tunnels. When they'd go over to the neighbors to ride sleds and car hoods and whatever they could find to slide over the hills. When they'd come in all red-faced, wet and happy, and we'd make hot chocolate and snow ice cream.

A snowy night about 10-12 years ago

Those were fun times. Of course, we were younger then, and between all of us we managed to shovel paths to the chicken house, barn lot and wood shed, clear off the porch and get the tractor out with its chains and blade to plow the driveway. The wood stove and the wood cookstove would both be going, and the house would be warm and steamy from wet clothes drying on drying racks in front of the fire. By the door, boots would be leaving puddles of melted ice and snow that I had to continually mop up because the doors were always opening and closing as we all went in and out.

One of my favorite places to photograph, Orville's cabin on Joe's Run. Taken around 2008.

That was a long time ago, at least 30 years or so. And we haven't had a real winter in the last fifteen years or more. Sure, we get snowfalls, and an occasional nice one of 8 inches or more, but it's a rarity, not the norm. My first years on this land we were snow-covered from January up into March. But not now. Now we have rain, and mud. And this Jackson county soil is so deep that the mud sometimes seems bottomless.

A more recent photo of our home, probably around 2012, when we had a small snowfall. 

I am positive that for every person like me that bemoans the lack of snow, there is an equal number perfectly happy and considering this change in our weather patterns a change for the better. For the elderly and people who have to get out and drive to work every day, no snow means fewer worries about falls or accidents.

So I guess I shouldn't be selfish. I will look at my old photos, and enjoy the beautiful pictures posted by others. I'll have my snow vicariously, and try to be grateful for weather that allows us to come and go as we please.

Just writing this post has made me smile at the good memories of those long-ago times. But a dish of snow ice cream sure would be nice.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.