We live on the Oregon Coast. As I may have mentioned in previous posts, we get a lot of rain here. Rain is just one of the prices we pay for living in the most beautiful state I have seen so far. Snow happens in Oregon, but not typically where we live. Yet every winter our kids yearn for a snow day. Every winter it seems like they are just willing it to snow.
We have lived here for three years, going on four. Our first winter here, it snowed. It was one of those freakish 3 day winter storm things. It was not fun snow, but we played in it anyway. Playing in it involved stomping through the layer of ice that had formed over the top of the snow to get to the powdery stuff underneath. Of course, the powdery stuff was worthless for snowballs, so it wasn't the best, but the kids didn't care...snow is snow to them.
Our second winter here was a no snow winter...as is typical.
Last year was our third winter, and it did snow, but not until March. It was however, beautiful snow. Perfect snowman, snowball and snowangel snow. It was a one day deal. It was deep enough to have a lot of fun in, but melted the next day enough that we enjoyed a nice hike with friends and didn't worry about the roads or the snow. To me, last year was the perfect snow year. I like to play in the snow, but I don't love snow. Its a hassle. If I was in charge of the weather here we would get that one snow day a year to have fun and play, and then we would be done with it.
So here we are...and its technically not even winter yet...still Autumn. This week we heard it might snow. Haha we thought...we have heard that many times before. Earlier this week...Monday it was...I heard the boys talking in hushed and awed tones about snow. And then I heard D telling them it was time to go to school. I was thinking...something is wrong with that. We live in one of those places that cancels school for snow when the grass is still sticking up through the snow. Still...off the big boys went to school and it wasn't long before K was bothering me to let him go outside and play in the snow. I got dressed, made sure he was properly snuggled up in warm clothes, gloves, and a hat, and went outside with him. I could see right away why school was not cancelled. It looked like only a dusting of snow...there was a lot of grass showing, but there was a nice white coating all over the car. We decided to use it to make some snowballs. However, when I went to make my snowball I noticed that the "snow" was made up of a lot of tiny BB sized pellets of ice. It was, in fact, hail. We had been deceived!
It did snow off and on that day, with intermittent hail in between. Our town was transformed into a wintry landscape that had no fun value at all. We went off to Costco Monday evening to make some purchases, and just as we were finishing loading the car after Costco, it started to hail again. Marble sized hail. We had another stop to make, so we drove to the next store and sat in the van and waited for the hail to stop. By the time it did the entire parking lot was covered in a layer of white. Again, it looked like snow, but it was really hail. This made the roads slick on our way home and we stayed in the rest of the night. School went on the next day, although the towns to either side of us cancelled their classes. The "snow" that is really hail stayed on the ground for two more days. I am sad to say, that I think that this may be all the "snow" we see this winter. I suppose only time will tell.
We have lived here for three years, going on four. Our first winter here, it snowed. It was one of those freakish 3 day winter storm things. It was not fun snow, but we played in it anyway. Playing in it involved stomping through the layer of ice that had formed over the top of the snow to get to the powdery stuff underneath. Of course, the powdery stuff was worthless for snowballs, so it wasn't the best, but the kids didn't care...snow is snow to them.
Our second winter here was a no snow winter...as is typical.
Last year was our third winter, and it did snow, but not until March. It was however, beautiful snow. Perfect snowman, snowball and snowangel snow. It was a one day deal. It was deep enough to have a lot of fun in, but melted the next day enough that we enjoyed a nice hike with friends and didn't worry about the roads or the snow. To me, last year was the perfect snow year. I like to play in the snow, but I don't love snow. Its a hassle. If I was in charge of the weather here we would get that one snow day a year to have fun and play, and then we would be done with it.
So here we are...and its technically not even winter yet...still Autumn. This week we heard it might snow. Haha we thought...we have heard that many times before. Earlier this week...Monday it was...I heard the boys talking in hushed and awed tones about snow. And then I heard D telling them it was time to go to school. I was thinking...something is wrong with that. We live in one of those places that cancels school for snow when the grass is still sticking up through the snow. Still...off the big boys went to school and it wasn't long before K was bothering me to let him go outside and play in the snow. I got dressed, made sure he was properly snuggled up in warm clothes, gloves, and a hat, and went outside with him. I could see right away why school was not cancelled. It looked like only a dusting of snow...there was a lot of grass showing, but there was a nice white coating all over the car. We decided to use it to make some snowballs. However, when I went to make my snowball I noticed that the "snow" was made up of a lot of tiny BB sized pellets of ice. It was, in fact, hail. We had been deceived!
It did snow off and on that day, with intermittent hail in between. Our town was transformed into a wintry landscape that had no fun value at all. We went off to Costco Monday evening to make some purchases, and just as we were finishing loading the car after Costco, it started to hail again. Marble sized hail. We had another stop to make, so we drove to the next store and sat in the van and waited for the hail to stop. By the time it did the entire parking lot was covered in a layer of white. Again, it looked like snow, but it was really hail. This made the roads slick on our way home and we stayed in the rest of the night. School went on the next day, although the towns to either side of us cancelled their classes. The "snow" that is really hail stayed on the ground for two more days. I am sad to say, that I think that this may be all the "snow" we see this winter. I suppose only time will tell.
3 comments:
We had hail...thick hail in drifts. It only lasted about two hours though. We had snow all day long too, and none of it stuck. School was two hours late, however. That was nice.
I love the snow. However, I believe that it has it's place. It belongs in the mountains. That is how this place was designed. Snow goes in the mountains, lower lying areas stay warm. When I want it to snow, I get on my bike and I ride up to the snow. When I've had enough snow, i go home. I don't like it when snow pays an unwelcome visit to the low lying areas.
I was riding home the other day with some light snow flurries and then I turned into a 20 MPH headwind and it started hailing hard! It hurt to look up at where I was going, hail hitting your face at 30 mph stings something fierce. It left a dusting of hail all over the road and made for a fun ride home. Snow in the mountains, sun in the valleys, really can't we have that simple reality in life?
It's December now.
Just saying.
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