The snow.

[Originally posted here on January 29, 2014.]

I live in Atlanta.

Yes, we got "the snow."

This is our second Atlanta winter. Prior to that, my last fifteen winters were spent in Colorado, Alaska, and northern Indiana. Generally, I walk by all the bundled-up Georgians in Walmart and mentally shake my head and scoff, "This isn't real cold--this is Georgia!" while I brave the barely-below-freezing temperatures in long-sleeves and a fleece jacket. These Georgians can be cute.

But yesterday, it snowed. I mean, I think we might've gotten two whole inches! While life carries on like normal in two feet of Alaskan snow, two inches here was enough to shut the city down. My husband left work early at 12:30 yesterday, and what should have been a half-hour commute (at most) took him three and a half hours. Today, there are thousands upon thousands of abandoned vehicles on the roads, left behind by people who ran out of gas from idling so long or preferred to walk to shelter; stranded commuters booked every hotel in the area last night and even camped out at retail stores and strangers' houses. I even read there was a baby born in traffic yesterday.

It's ridiculous, I know. But in my city's defense, Atlanta is not used to snow, and therefore is not equipped for it. They don't keep the resources and personnel on hand to clear snow and salt or gravel the roads (and they shouldn't--there are better ways to spend tax dollars than preparing for weather we almost never get). And while it may be easy for us northerners to shake our heads in disbelief at how little these Atlantans know about driving in a dusting of snow, I will point out that there is a huge difference between driving on salted/gravelled roads and driving on nothing but snow and ice. I learned how to drive in Alaska, where studded tires are a must in winter; I used to think Indiana drivers were complete and utter wusses in winter, until my first non-studded experience nearly skidding through an icy intersection at a red light. Driving on unsalted, icy roads is much the same; it's far more treacherous than those of us who are used to salt and gravel would expect.

But, on the up-side......

One of my very few regrets about moving to the South is that the thought of my kids growing up without snow in the winter. No sledding? Snowball fights? Snowboarding, or snowmen? So I was very excited that we could take Kaylie outside to play in our little dusting yesterday!

Snow! ...What do I do?

She was very excited at the prospect of playing in the snow she saw from her window, but once we bundled her up and got her outside, I don't think she knew what to do with it.....

There's snow on our new van!

So, in typical Kaylie fashion, she wiped the snow off of our van! Because it shouldn't be there.  I've been corrected by my husband: She put snow on the tires, because apparently our tires need snow on them in order to drive.  (Yesterday and today, every time she looks out the window, the first thing she says is, "There's snow on our new van!")

Kaylie's version of a snowball.

Casey encouraged her to try to throw snowballs. And she tried to make a snow angel. She came in covered in melting snow, but she had a blast.

And, the cold weather was a great opportunity for me to try out my new heat-transforming TARDIS mug!

It disappears!

The hot chocolate made the TARDIS disappear from the streets of London! I could almost hear it while I watched it fade....

...and reappears!

The TARDIS reappears on the other side of the mug, amidst stars and galaxies. I think I'm going to get back into drinking coffee again.....