I had a hard final today and I’m behind in studying for my next two exams, but none of that matters because is it snowing. And that is a VERY big deal. Mainly because I’ve never lived in a place where it snows. And even though I’ve skied several times and traveled to snowy areas, I have very rarely spent a day in a place where it snows a lot. All day long. Until perfect puffy white piles lay nestled onto trees, ledges, and rooftops everywhere.
I always heard—from the people that know—that it doesn’t snow much in B’more. And when it does, it’s not for long, it doesn’t stick, and it doesn’t happen until Jan/Feb. So you can imagine my surprise when I noticed some flaky white things in the air as I drove to school today. And then my surprise when I got out of my final to see the world swept under a blanket of white. This, by the way, makes any city look beautiful. Between each class I ran up to the closest window (along with the other Cali kids) to see if the snow was still there. And each time, I could not help but point out to anyone who was near me that "It was snowing!" The kids from New England really loved that.
During the last few weeks I have been on a bit of a learning curve in terms of cold weather. I’ve learned that my warm jackets from California aren’t warm. And after realizing that the hard way, I’ve acquired a few real jackets and discovered things like “puffers” (wearable down comforters). So now I “know” how to do cold and I’ve got the right materials. When the weather station said there would be snow today, I thought to myself, “That’s probably not going to happen.” And then I smugly put on my leather riding boots and big puffer jacket knowing that snow or not, I’m totally down with the cold weather and can survive anything now that I am a seasoned resident of a wintry city. “Bring it on” I thought, as I left my apartment (where the thermostat is pretty much always above 75).
So I expected cold, but I did not expect to climb another steep section of my “Life in B’more” learning curve. When I walked back to my car after school I noticed that the pretty puffy white blanket I admired all day long also covered my car. Six hours of puffy white blanket, in fact. I almost passed my car ‘cause I did not recognize the shapeless white monstrosity it had become.
I saw other people wiping their cars off before driving with scraping thingies. So I thought maybe I should do the same. I put my stuff inside the car and discovered how heavy a trunk lid full of snow can be. When I finally propped it open, a bunch of snow fell in. Joy. Then, the only tool I could find to scrap my windows off with was a water bottle. The snow had not become icy so it actually worked quite well, but I didn’t have any gloves on. That was fine for a bit, but after five minutes outside shuffling snow off my car with a water bottle, I sorta lost feeling in my fingers.
More things I realized from the day’s adventures: windshield wipers aren’t just for rain; snow melts into water and then you become wet; wear gloves when handling large amounts of icy material outside; and, appreciate parking in an indoor garage.
After warming up and changing into better snow clothes, I went out to photograph the experience.
These are the rain boots the General got me for my b-day. They came in handy during my photo break!
These are snowflakes on my glove. Labels: B'more, Pictures, Winter
