You know the comment people make about the many words that inhabitants in northern latitudes have for snow? Where I grew up and where I now live, snow is all we know, although we learned a new word, "thundersnow," on the Weather Channel earlier today, to indicate conditions of a cold weather system spinning through Georgia.
White stuff covering any horizontal surface. Crystallized water. A solid. The odd property of a substance that constitutes, dilutes, life. Ice.
Approximately one inch of snow fell in the area around my house. During the night I looked out to see little white dots floating and falling for the law of gravity. Now, at 16:28 in the afternoon, the roads are dry. The grays, browns and greens fill my vision once again, erasing the memory of nearly monotonous white.
A few years ago I witnessed another snowy weather event that prompted my poetic attitude to assert itself journalistically:
Winter Storm Advisory
We’re in the midst
Of what the weather forecasters call
Blizzard conditions;
That is, we have 5-8 inches of snow on the ground
And the wind is gusting up to 50 miles/hour.
The official temperature is 25°F right now.
Some TV stations are calling this
The Storm Of The Century.
I can see why.
Snow fell in Mobile (two inches),
Birmingham (13 inches),
and Montgomery (3 inches).
Over 12 inches fell in the mountains
Around Mentone (the Lookout Mountain area).
Unfortunately for the birds,
I put the last of the birdseed in the bird feeder out back
So I hope they have enough to last them a couple of days.
- 13 March 1993
= == === ==== === == =
Do Bookies Bet On The Weather?
I walked through the woods yesterday
And saw footprints in the snow
Left by many animals including deer, dogs and birds.
Some of the dog-size prints
May have been possum or raccoon since they, too,
Occupy the woods behind my house.
Several cedar trees and limbs had fallen
Or broken off due to snow.
Officially (so to speak),
I measured the snow in our yard on Saturday;
I measured six inches on the driveway
And thirteen and a half inches on the back deck
(An actual snow drift in Huntsville!).
Mount Mitchell in North Carolina recorded 50 inches
While Asheville had around two feet of snow.
Several cities from Alabama to Pennsylvania
Recorded new 24-hour snowfall records.
Therefore, news agencies labeled this storm,
"The storm of the century."
Also, I’ll mention several cities up the East Coast
Recorded new barometric pressure lows.
New low of 12°F on Saturday night.
Janeil and I will try to drive over the mountain
To work this morning.
- 15 March 1993
= == === ==== === == =
Snow - a word - that I know more by reputation than through acquaintance. As a childhood friend of mine noted, during the cold winters of the mid- to late-1970s in east Tennessee, we used to ride sleds and toboggans down a large hill that was part of the Slaughter Farm, a family homestead still not yet subdivided into housing estates, which now belongs to Ken the constable. So, too, when heavy snows and ice fell, we'd sled down a road nicknamed Suicide that dropped sharply off the back of the hill and had no protective guardrails, thus giving some sledders more than they bargained for during their descent (the road's actual name is Shadyside).
As far as I know, kids still sneak onto the farm to sled when there's snow on the ground. Only once was I ever shot at when trespassing - the sound of bullets zinging off of rock outcrops our only indication of danger - and that was because me and a buddy of mine were climbing concrete walls into the family cemetery, before friendly Ken took over the family farm.
I have some great pictures of the farm that I shot for the literary magazine at Walters State Community College in 1985 - the click of a shutter endangering no one. I'll have to find that magazine and scan the photos. The snow drifts that danced that day tickle memories out of my thoughts, their metallic taste and smell lingering a moment before melting away once again.
White stuff covering any horizontal surface. Crystallized water. A solid. The odd property of a substance that constitutes, dilutes, life. Ice.
Approximately one inch of snow fell in the area around my house. During the night I looked out to see little white dots floating and falling for the law of gravity. Now, at 16:28 in the afternoon, the roads are dry. The grays, browns and greens fill my vision once again, erasing the memory of nearly monotonous white.
A few years ago I witnessed another snowy weather event that prompted my poetic attitude to assert itself journalistically:
Winter Storm Advisory
We’re in the midst
Of what the weather forecasters call
Blizzard conditions;
That is, we have 5-8 inches of snow on the ground
And the wind is gusting up to 50 miles/hour.
The official temperature is 25°F right now.
Some TV stations are calling this
The Storm Of The Century.
I can see why.
Snow fell in Mobile (two inches),
Birmingham (13 inches),
and Montgomery (3 inches).
Over 12 inches fell in the mountains
Around Mentone (the Lookout Mountain area).
Unfortunately for the birds,
I put the last of the birdseed in the bird feeder out back
So I hope they have enough to last them a couple of days.
- 13 March 1993
= == === ==== === == =
Do Bookies Bet On The Weather?
I walked through the woods yesterday
And saw footprints in the snow
Left by many animals including deer, dogs and birds.
Some of the dog-size prints
May have been possum or raccoon since they, too,
Occupy the woods behind my house.
Several cedar trees and limbs had fallen
Or broken off due to snow.
Officially (so to speak),
I measured the snow in our yard on Saturday;
I measured six inches on the driveway
And thirteen and a half inches on the back deck
(An actual snow drift in Huntsville!).
Mount Mitchell in North Carolina recorded 50 inches
While Asheville had around two feet of snow.
Several cities from Alabama to Pennsylvania
Recorded new 24-hour snowfall records.
Therefore, news agencies labeled this storm,
"The storm of the century."
Also, I’ll mention several cities up the East Coast
Recorded new barometric pressure lows.
New low of 12°F on Saturday night.
Janeil and I will try to drive over the mountain
To work this morning.
- 15 March 1993
= == === ==== === == =
Snow - a word - that I know more by reputation than through acquaintance. As a childhood friend of mine noted, during the cold winters of the mid- to late-1970s in east Tennessee, we used to ride sleds and toboggans down a large hill that was part of the Slaughter Farm, a family homestead still not yet subdivided into housing estates, which now belongs to Ken the constable. So, too, when heavy snows and ice fell, we'd sled down a road nicknamed Suicide that dropped sharply off the back of the hill and had no protective guardrails, thus giving some sledders more than they bargained for during their descent (the road's actual name is Shadyside).
As far as I know, kids still sneak onto the farm to sled when there's snow on the ground. Only once was I ever shot at when trespassing - the sound of bullets zinging off of rock outcrops our only indication of danger - and that was because me and a buddy of mine were climbing concrete walls into the family cemetery, before friendly Ken took over the family farm.
I have some great pictures of the farm that I shot for the literary magazine at Walters State Community College in 1985 - the click of a shutter endangering no one. I'll have to find that magazine and scan the photos. The snow drifts that danced that day tickle memories out of my thoughts, their metallic taste and smell lingering a moment before melting away once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment