Please: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Published 6:00 am Friday, December 22, 2000
I’ve been hoping for snow.
I make no secret about the fact that I am a “winter” person. Ourhot, humid summers are almost too much for me to bear.
I got teased a bit Tuesday morning when some snow flurries fellin the area. I imagine there were lots of noses pressed up againstwindow panes. Mine would have been, too, had I not been atwork.
Most Southerners don’t like snow. It’s an inconvenience. Itmakes them crazy. I guess that’s because we’re not prepared to dealwith the rare times we get a substantial snowfall.
I don’t want lots of snow — no power or telephone outages;nobody injured in a fall or on a slick highway. Up to my kneeswould be plenty.
In some ways, I think I’ve become “programmed” to want snow thistime of year.
Most holiday songs, at least the secular ones, containreferences to snow.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas . . .
Please have snow and mistletoe . . .
Dashing through the snow . . .
It’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you . ..
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow . . .
In the meadow we can build a snowman . . .
In the lane, snow is glistening . . .
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes . . .
When the snow lay round about . . .
Hear the snow crunch . . .
See what I mean.
A lot of Christmas cards also depict snow scenes.
. . . Lights glow from inside a snow-covered country church.
. . . A lone red bird is perched on a branch of a snow-coveredtree.
. . . A family carries a freshly-cut evergreen tree out of thesnow-covered forest.
You know, Currier and Ives Christmases.
I can’t really explain why I have this fascination with snow,except maybe it’s because of how little we get here in theSouth.
When I was a youngster — way back in the days before there wasthe Weather Channel — snowfalls were a great surprise. Back then,the best weather indicator was what was happening in the big citynorth of Duck Hill. The word that “it’s snowing in Memphis” wasalmost as good as “Santa Claus comes tonight.”
What a thrill it was on those rare occasions to get up in themorning and find the ground covered — and no school that day!
To me, snow is peaceful and quiet. Maybe that’s because mostSoutherners look at it with such disdain that they just stay insideinstead of getting out and enjoying God’s wonder.
But, haven’t you ever noticed that snow can bring a kind ofreverence to just about anything? Even a garbage dump can bebeautiful when shrouded with a pure white covering.
And nothing is prettier than the rosy cheeks or bright smile ofa child after an afternoon of snowman building.
I like to walk in snow.
I like to play in snow.
I like to watch snow fall.
I like to eat snow, especially when it’s flavored up and turnedinto ice cream.
I like to listen to snow. Some folks disagree, but I think youcan hear snow falling. It’s a light, crunchy sound.
Snow is a beautiful creation from God. Only He could insure thatno two snowflakes are the same.
A white Christmas in Mississippi?
As another song says . . . I can dream, can’t I?
Write to Nanette Laster at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602, send faxes to 833-6714, or e-mail tonews@dailyleader.com