Quite possibly too much of a good thing

The news reports called it "snowmageddon." I called it "oh look it's snowing." I have known a lot of snow in my life. I like snow; sort of. Like most adults (ok most adults who don't depend on snow for recreational opportunities and since I'm in an American state that doesn't I can safely say that) my fascination with snow has diminished as I've gotten older. For a child snow brings endless play opportunities. It transforms that dark, wet fall backyard into a whole new playground covered in a pretty neat building material. Want a real challenge? Try explaining to a pre-schooler why this isn't the right type of snow to make a snowman. That neat building material can also be used as a weapon. This year Santa brought my boys snowball makers; think over sized scissor like ice cream scoops. He didn't bring them because he thought they needed him he brought them because he found them at his favorite thrift shop cheap.

And then there's sledding. Or tobogganing as I used to call it. Tobogganing as a kid is a lot of fun (well duh!). Tobogganing WITH kids is a lot of work (or so I'm told because I'm too lazy to do it with my kids.) Tobogganing is probably best done as a teen or young adult. I have great memories of hiking up hills only to freeze my but off sliding down them on garbage bags. Like most people I agree that it really doesn't feel like Christmas without snow on Christmas Eve although I have learned that Christmas will come regardless of weather you have snow or all your shopping done. And also, like most adults, I think that any snow beyond that is just an inconvenience. To start with there's the whole outfitting your kids dilemma. Dilemma isn't quite the right word here, "pain in the butt" is. Everything from trying to find boots (especially boy boots for not more than $15 please and thank you) or baby mittens (especially trying to keep them on the baby) to adjusting the car seat straps to fit over bulky coats is a hassle. One of my friends recently moved from Canada to Mexico and she was asked if she misses snow. She said that she missed it in terms of "oh look it's snowing on Christmas Eve!" not "oh for crying out loud it's April!'

Now don't go presuming that because I'm Canadian I should be used to copious amounts of snow. For the record, the city I was born and raised in gets about 35.8 inches of the white stuff a year. The city that we're currently in gets about 56.9 inches. True, I once spent time in a Canadian city where their idea of snow removal was to pile up all the snow in the center lane of the roads creating a very rat maze effect. Then there was the time a friend and I started to dig out a car only to discover that it was the wrong car. We learned that if in doubt clear off enough of the car in question that you can check it's color. Do not presume that the auto shaped mound you are vigorously attacking is your car just because that's where you swore you left yours.

Better than digging out your own car is having someone else do it. When I was single I cared less about eharmony and there 5 zillion methods of finding me a compatible spouse, all I really wanted was a boyfriend who would dig my car out for me; preferably while I stayed warm and safe in the house watching the fireplace channel. Thanks to the Internet I did find myself a husband who will clear off my car for me in a storm. Problem is he also expects me to shovel the driveway. I thought my disastrous, though honest, attempt at shoveling us out from the last storm would prove my uselessness at the task to such an extent that I would never be asked to do it again; it didn't. I shoveled yesterday all the while making a mental note that the next house we buy (there WON'T be a next house) will be one with a short driveway. Forget such criteria as fenced in backyard and storage space, a short driveway is a priority! Oh and I learned that in the winter it's best to keep the snow shovel close to the house not in the garage where you have to leap over 4 foot high snow drifts to reach over it.

Here snow is divided into 2 categories: lake effects and regular snow. A big fuss is made over what type of snow is falling, not that the snow itself cares. It's not like it falls in different piles or comes down in different colors depending on it's origin. When it lands in my driveway it is all just snow. Besides in Kamloops it's not the snow that will get you it's the cold. I do know what it's like for temperatures to be too cold to snow. I know what it's like for locks to freeze and I know that if you are talking about plugging in your car you're not necessarily talking about a hybrid. What I don't know about is snow days.

Snow days (for the uniformed that until a few years ago including me which is why I never understood the premise of the movie "Snow Day" ) are the days that school closes because there is too much snow. We were in some flat mid western state when I first heard of the concept of closing schools for weather. I took Little Miss (not a teen back then) to her first day of school and noticed that the driveway of the school was quite steep. At home I told my Huggyband that I was worried about how I was going to get up that driveway in the winter with snow considering that I'm the worlds worst driver and although I have lots experience with snow driving in it is a whole different matter. He assured me that they would cancel school long before there was enough snow to make driving difficult. CANCEL SCHOOL????? They can DO that? Until then, what you did on days that it was snowing had always been a personal choice. You could choose to go to the movies or not but the choice was entirely up to you since the theater was always open. Same with schools, churches etc. You could choose to brave the elements and make the drive or not but not many things were going to be cancelled on account of the weather. I often joke with the stereotype that if Canadian schools were to close every time there was snow then our kids would rarely go. Besides, parents would go INSANE if our kids were kept home for that long. If that were the case then Canadian parents would be clearing the roads themselves! Anyways, here school does get cancelled, they actually plan on having it cancelled for a few days each winter and build it into their schedules. Not only school but other things get cancelled as well; like church. One year church was cancelled on Christmas Eve because of a storm; and that's not the only time we've had church cancelled because of weather. This weekend the local ice festival was cancelled because of weather. No, it wasn't too hot; there was too much snow!