We were warned on Friday that we would get up to a foot of snow Sunday evening. I laughed at the very thought of it. Tis not very common for us, the southern US, to get snow in March. However, I remember it snowing as late as Easter, when I was a lad. In fact, I remember being snowed in, in the middle of March on my birthday. Hint! That year, we had a blizzard of epic proportions. I vividly remember wading waist deep through it and disappearing into a sea of white fluff.
The continuous pelting of raindrops over the past week turned my yard into a mud hole. About 5:00PM yesterday, sleet began mixing in amongst the droplets of frigid rain. Only minutes later, everything around me was covered in a light dusting of snow. It started out as tiny bits of snow and ice mixed together and progressed into cascade of powdery flakes.
There’s nothing I like better than a good blizzard. It purifies the air and kills off all of the nasty critters that I can’t stand anyway. I got out and played in the snow, capturing moments in time along the way. I ended up at my Uncle’s house. He was going on about not being able to watch the telly because of snow buildup on the roof. Pardon the pun, Uncle.
So, we wrapped up and headed out to knock the snowfall off the Dish. The moment we got the signal back, the power went out. I speedily called the utility company and was told that the power would promptly return at 5:00PM Monday. This made me irate, so I told the kind lady that I had two grandmother’s that could not be without power due to the freezing temperatures. She dutifully told me that my grandmothers and about a half million more would have to find somewhere to stay overnight.
I hastened the delivery of heaters to me nannas and then tried to figure out what to do about moi. After all, I needed to stay warm as well. My Uncle offered me a couch in his heated and powered RV, so I took him up on it.
We woke up at four this morning to find the power on. Those poor fellas that get paid $75 an hour must have worked all night long. Some neighbourhoods are still without power. I’m very thankful to be sitting in this cozy house rambling about nothing.
About 4:30AM, I treaded across the snow laden range that separates our houses. I’ve walked through that area at all times of the night and day and never had a worry except for the crack heads two streets over. This morning it was eerie.
The ever wise moon casted sombre cerulean moonbeams across the landscape leaving crisp lines in the icy abyss. I, in my own abysmal cerebrations, glanced up to discover the moons half smirk and laughed. Quietly, I walked across the plain leaving a stamp of myself behind. As I approached the house, the snow ceased thus did I. Perhaps it was nature itself trying to tell me to stop and look. I heard frozen limbs creak as clumps of snow fell from the heavens.
A wee squirrel leapt from a low limb onto the plush snow, twitched his head and tail in a synchronous motion back and forth. He struggled across the snowy woodland behind my residence, and made his way to one of the evergreen trees and began hastily digging for treasure. I knelt there for a few minutes and watched the gnawer dig with his little paws. I finally gave up and went inside.
A few minutes ago I went outside and he had dug a bunch of holes in the snowpack. One extremely important principal we can learn from nature, is to never ever give up. If you can’t find your treasure in one location, try somewhere else until you find it. Squirrels are brilliant little critters, aren’t they?





