The big news this week was Winter Storm Somebody sweeping the east coast and locking the land in a snowy blanket. The chilly front made its way all the way down to Atlanta, albeit in a much reduced manner.
Now I've lived through my share of nasty winter days throughout my years in Wisconsin and Minnesota, so I wasn't too worried about what southern storm could throw at me. What I did underestimate was the alarmed reaction of everyone else. At 9 AM, an email went out declaring Emory campus would completely shut down at 2 PM due to a predicted three hours of light snow at 10 PM. Suddenly, the floor emptied of anyone who didn't have a dire obligation. One professor warned as he left, "Get out while you still can!" I began to see how the entire city had been shut down last year, and how those events clearly had an impact on city and university officials. No chances would be taken, and everyone needed to get out of dodge.
I escaped by mid afternoon on a surprisingly empty bus. Once I was safely home for a few hours, low and behold some real snow started falling. Big white flakes floated down over the street in front of the house. It was an old comfortable scene for me, but for my L.A. roommate, this was her first time seeing snow fall. She ran outside as the rest of us watched the joy of a first snow. There's something magical about it every year. Complaints of cold disappear was the flakes drift through the air and start to decorate the scenery around you. Just like seeing the first flowers of spring, the first snow has a sense of a new beginning to me. A fresh start wiping the sky clean.
In the end, we only got about half an inch, and most of in was melted away by the nest morning, but it's the thought that counts. So thanks Mother Nature for that first snow feeling.
Now I've lived through my share of nasty winter days throughout my years in Wisconsin and Minnesota, so I wasn't too worried about what southern storm could throw at me. What I did underestimate was the alarmed reaction of everyone else. At 9 AM, an email went out declaring Emory campus would completely shut down at 2 PM due to a predicted three hours of light snow at 10 PM. Suddenly, the floor emptied of anyone who didn't have a dire obligation. One professor warned as he left, "Get out while you still can!" I began to see how the entire city had been shut down last year, and how those events clearly had an impact on city and university officials. No chances would be taken, and everyone needed to get out of dodge.
I escaped by mid afternoon on a surprisingly empty bus. Once I was safely home for a few hours, low and behold some real snow started falling. Big white flakes floated down over the street in front of the house. It was an old comfortable scene for me, but for my L.A. roommate, this was her first time seeing snow fall. She ran outside as the rest of us watched the joy of a first snow. There's something magical about it every year. Complaints of cold disappear was the flakes drift through the air and start to decorate the scenery around you. Just like seeing the first flowers of spring, the first snow has a sense of a new beginning to me. A fresh start wiping the sky clean.
In the end, we only got about half an inch, and most of in was melted away by the nest morning, but it's the thought that counts. So thanks Mother Nature for that first snow feeling.