When the Water Meets the Snow

Today it snowed in North Carolina. We actually got a pretty hefty amount too. Usually it is like 2 inches, but nope. Today we got like 7 inches. 

It was actually kind of fun, in a very familiar way. Now, let me tell you the GREAT thing about snow in North Carolina. They never rarely get snow. The fact that they never rarely get snow, means that when it does snow, EVERYONE freaks out, and EVERYTHING is shut down. So, last night, before it even started snowing, the base was two hours late just at the prospect that there might be snow. Luckily, my husband was told the night before so he was able to sleep in. We woke up in the morning, looked outside, NOTHING. Not even a flake of snow. We laughed about it, and sat down to eat breakfast, then looked outside again to find that it had snowed like an inch while we were eating breakfast. No pansies to snow and cold weather, Steve set off to work. Upon arriving, he found out that base had been closed for the entire day. Now I ask you, especially those of you from Minnesota or other northern states…when do people there EVER get a snow day from work? I’m not talking about calling in and saying “I’m snowed in at home I can’t make it”. I’m talking, your boss calls you, and says, “Don’t come in, we’re shutting down the whole office for the day”. For those in hospital settings—even the Naval Hospital was shut down, with the exception of the emergency room. My husband was pretty elated to have a snow day on his last week of work though! 

Now, let me tell you the BAD thing about snow in North Carolina. They never rarely get snow. The fact that they never rarely get snow, means that 1) Snowplows don’t exist here, 2) It is always right at the freezing mark so it melts on the ground, then refreezes to make it kind of icy, 3) Since snowplows don’t exist neither does salt to help melt the ice on the roads, and 4) It’s a little known fact, that people in North Carolina don’t know how to drive to begin with, so when you add even the shallowest amount of snow into the mix, it gets BAD.

Now that I’ve given you the low-down on what it’s like when it snows in North Carolina, I will tell you that Steve made it home safely and base is already opening 4 hours late tomorrow morning. So, he gets and extra 4 hours of sleep tomorrow. Remember, no snow plows, so there is likely still 7 inches of snow on the roads that is half melted and refrozen into ice. Fun.

Once he got back home, we decided to go outside with the initial plan of building a snowman. The snow wasn’t sticking together very well though, so we scrapped that idea and just went out to check it out. Me, still being very much a Minnesota Girl, went out in my tennis shoes, jeans, a spring/fall jacket, and a stocking cap, camera in (bare) hand. After all, it was still like 32 degrees outside—not THAT cold. I was outside for a good 10-15 minutes, when out trudges my husband, who has apparently turned into a North Carolina boy. He has his winter snow boots on, his winter coat, his stocking cap, a neck warmer, and winter gloves. He was still a ways away, and as he’s walking toward me, I think to myself, “Wow, really? I bet if he had snow pants he would be wearing them right now”. He finally gets right beside me, and what is the first thing he says? “I couldn’t find my snow pants”. And he wants to move back to Minnesota?! Whatever…

Anyway, we actually walked out on the snow-covered beach, which was kind of a cool thing to witness. We walked down to where the ocean was meeting the snow covered beach and watched it for a little while. I’m not sure how cold the water was, but I imagine it was relatively warm-ish because I noticed there were seagulls sitting in the water. We stood out there for a while and watched the water wash up on the beach and melt the snow away immediately on impact. It was quite the sight.

And oh how I wish that same water could just as easily wash away the worries that run through my mind.