Snow Job

This week, the question "Why am I here?" was less about waxing philosophical and more about the buckets of snow that piled up in my driveway.

I was born in this part of the country, so it is no surprise when the white stuff shows up every year. What is a little surprising is that, in view of how much my husband and I hate the cold weather, we haven't moved someplace warmer.

We did live in Washington, DC for awhile. When I first moved there, they told me they didn't get a lot of snow. Both the weekend before I arrived and the one after, they got a foot of snow. When I showed up for my first day of work, my red-faced boss swore this was an aberration. I got a lot of comments about how I brought the snow with me. That was over 25 years ago, and they are still getting significant snowfalls.

I've dreamed of living somewhere in the Southwest. But, I don't know, either I'm just getting too old to move or I'm too practical. The logistics of such a transplant make me tired. So, the dream remains a dream, and I remain in Northeastern Ohio.

Like many others in this neck of the woods, I do enjoy having four seasons of weather. I just wish so much of it wasn't filled with the white stuff. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to shlep back and forth to work. This week was made manageable because my son was home from college and could dig me out of the driveway.

What surprises me is that the process of snow removal on the roads hasn't changed much in the last 40 years. For all the advances in science and technology, they still haven't figured out how to make the roads safe after the white stuff does its thing. It appears that we can conquer many obstacles, but Mother Nature ain't one of them.

So...I will go and wrap my hands around a hot cup of coffee and read the paper. And keep the curtains closed. Then I'll suit up and head off to face the cold and ice and snow.

Yuck!