Winter without snow
Dec. 16th, 2007 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aubreymToday's prompt over at holidailies is, "Have you ever had a winter without snow?" And, since I'm coming up blank with an idea of my own to explore tonight, I'm going to stick with this. Yes - I have had a winter without snow - several, in fact. I've been living in San Francisco for eight years now, and for some of those years I have not gone back East (to visit family or for any other reason) during the winter season.
Usually I'm delighted by this situation. I grew up in Michigan and Maryland, and went to undergrad in Massachusetts, all of which had cold winters and (at least in Michigan and Massachusetts) much snow. I'm not a cold weather person. I don't enjoy winter sports, except maybe for ice-skating, but only on a rink and only once in a while. And I'm not sure anyone would consider ice-skating a sport. I don't like skiing - I much prefer sitting by a toasty fire and sipping hot cocoa. Daydreaming and reading.
But every so often, and right now seems to be one of those times, I miss the snow. Winter just doesn't seem to arrive without snow. Rain, fog, not the same. Sure, I still get cold and once in a great while there's a big enough storm to produce hail that coats the ground like snow - but it's not the same. I miss the hush that comes over the world during a snowstorm, and the quiet just after. I miss walking late at night, watching the flakes swirl. I miss making the first tracks through an unspoiled expanse of white. I miss how the trees sparkle with a coating of snow, and the sound the branches make when they're covered with ice.
I don't miss how long winter seemed to drag on, especially in Massachusetts. I don't miss the everlasting piles of dirty, slushy grey snow. I don't miss how it would get so cold that it felt like my nose-hairs were freezing as I walked to class.
What I really need is just a day or two of snow. Just a taste, then go back to my regularly scheduled rain. Maybe I'll have to take a trip to Tahoe this year.
Usually I'm delighted by this situation. I grew up in Michigan and Maryland, and went to undergrad in Massachusetts, all of which had cold winters and (at least in Michigan and Massachusetts) much snow. I'm not a cold weather person. I don't enjoy winter sports, except maybe for ice-skating, but only on a rink and only once in a while. And I'm not sure anyone would consider ice-skating a sport. I don't like skiing - I much prefer sitting by a toasty fire and sipping hot cocoa. Daydreaming and reading.
But every so often, and right now seems to be one of those times, I miss the snow. Winter just doesn't seem to arrive without snow. Rain, fog, not the same. Sure, I still get cold and once in a great while there's a big enough storm to produce hail that coats the ground like snow - but it's not the same. I miss the hush that comes over the world during a snowstorm, and the quiet just after. I miss walking late at night, watching the flakes swirl. I miss making the first tracks through an unspoiled expanse of white. I miss how the trees sparkle with a coating of snow, and the sound the branches make when they're covered with ice.
I don't miss how long winter seemed to drag on, especially in Massachusetts. I don't miss the everlasting piles of dirty, slushy grey snow. I don't miss how it would get so cold that it felt like my nose-hairs were freezing as I walked to class.
What I really need is just a day or two of snow. Just a taste, then go back to my regularly scheduled rain. Maybe I'll have to take a trip to Tahoe this year.
