Snow

We've had several days with snow on the ground here in Kodiak, and I've been a terrible blogger and haven't gotten out to take pictures of it. I've also been a "terrible" mother and have no pictures of "Rainbow's first snow." The truth is that snow, generally, moves me not at all. This is despite the fact that, in most of the places where I've lived in my adult life, snow has been a novelty and delight for locals and transplants alike.

I used to like snow. The Nebraska winters in the 1980s and early 1990s, when I was a child, were filled snow, which meant sledding; snow tunnels; homemade "snow cones" (freshly scooped snow sprinkled with Tang--yes, Tang); and, when hands and feet and face became too cold, hot chocolate and sitting in front of the hotly burning refrigerator-sized wood stove my father had installed himself. (The stove wasn't part of the house for long, however; at some point my parents' insurance company required its removal.)

The waning of my enthusiasm coincided with getting my driver's license and with increasingly-frightening driving incidents. But I don't think I really became over snow until the year after I graduated from college. It was the first time I had to drive to work every day. I lived in an apartment building without a garage. Winter, but particularly winter with snow, meant nothing more to me than windshield-scraping and sliding perilously to work in my Ford Taurus. 

Believe it or not, I like snow a lot more now. Living in Morocco for two years helped. I never had to drive a car there and, in fact, rarely had to be anywhere in particular at any particular time. Ifrane is famous in Morocco for its cold winter weather, and I have to admit the town has a Disney-like-wonder-world feel when covered in freshly fallen snow. I enjoyed the snow there.

I should be trying harder right now to enjoy the snow in Kodiak. I haven't driven since moving here, so only my husband has had to deal with the driving-related annoyances of snow. The mountains look lovely when covered with white, as do the woods.

Of course, as I'm typing this, the snow is starting to melt. And rather than regretting not having taken pictures of it, I have to admit I feel a little happy.