by Ariela Zucker
"Up to a foot of snow," the smug-looking weatherman announces on the six o'clock news.
"Thirty million Americans in the path of the storm," numbers are always a convincing tool in scare tactics.
"More than six states," he continues to plant the seeds of doom.
"Stay in if you do not have to be anywhere,"
The small crooked smile at the corner of his mouth reveals how pleased he is with the drama he creates.
Behind him, the weather map alive with serpent looking swirls of green and blue and the dreaded pink.
In the middle of the night, two orange lights penetrate the shades of my bedroom, and a low growl and grind on the driveway. Ready to jump out of bed, I realize it is the snowplow performing the first of many rounds and slide deeper under my blankets.
In the morning, the quiet is deafening. It is the kind of quiet that accompanies snow days. No cars on the street, no kids on their way to school, even the dogs hush. Outside, a world clad in crisp white. My entrance door decorated with snow flowers. I savor the uninterrupted white before I send my lab out to mark it.
Shovel the deck so the snow crystals will remain outside, is my part in the snow removal operation. My husband wakes up the snowblower, and the brittle quiet explodes. The machine sucks in the snow and spits it out like a water fountain. Before long, our cars reappear from under their thick blanket of snow, and a narrow trail connects us to the main road.
On the morning news, somewhat disappointed anchorwoman discloses that only 9 inches of snow came down. She brightens considerably when she shows us pictures of cars that sled off the road (everyone is OK).
By noon the temperature rises to 32 degrees. Big drops of water from the roof and the trees create an illusion of rain. The cleaned cars and narrow trail freeze to form a shiny layer of ice. This thin, hard layer will remain unbroken until covered with a fresh coat of snow. In the meantime, it is sprayed with sand to avoid sliding.
Brown, muddy-looking snow with untouched patches of slippery ice that snaps and pops when stepped upon. Icy cold drops of water, some find their way inside my coat as I haul inside logs of wood for the woodstove. Snow shovels and ice picks everywhere.
"Tomorrow night, a monster snowstorm on its way to the East coast, 50 million Americans in harm's way," here he is again with the smug look and the smirk.
Ariela Zucker was born in Israel. She and her husband left sixteen years ago and now reside in Ellsworth Maine where they run a Mom and Pop motel. This post originally appeared on her blog at Paper Dragon.
Thanks for sharing, Ariel. I felt as if I was with you as you witnessed the snow and its muddy, dirty aftermath. I don’t envy you all that snow or as we called it in Indiana “snirt.” I live in Texas and rarely experience snow or ice for more than a day or two. I like it that way. 🙂
Thanks Sara.