The Snow that Mostly Wasn’t

As you saw in my last post winter storm Jonas finally made it to the farm on Friday afternoon. We were supposed to have 1.9 inches (4.8cm) of snow on the ground according to our weather forecast. That did not happen. The final tally was about a quarter inch of snow (0.6cm) with up to a half inch of snow (1.2cm) in a few areas where the wind had made “drifts.” I’m not sure if a half inch of snow counts as a snow drift but I’m not sure what other term to use. Since the last two winters brought no measurable snow we were hoping for more than a quarter inch of snow. Carter has been desperate to build a snowman for the last two years so he was hoping he would finally get his chance. Unfortunately he didn’t, but he did manage to scrape together a couple of tiny snowballs. Maybe next time.

True to form the snow shut everything down in our immediate area. Schools were closed on Friday and Monday, despite the fact that basically everything had melted by Sunday afternoon. 60 miles north in Nashville the snow accumulations were much higher, with various areas in and around Nashville accumulating anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of snow throughout the day on Friday. The horses thought the snow was fabulous and acted like kids having a snow day from school.

Jason was stunned when we drove to Franklin, a suburb of Nashville, on Saturday evening. The plan was to eat somewhere and do our weekly grocery shopping. Whole Foods was closed. Most of the restaurants, including fast food, were closed along with a majority of the stores. This despite the fact that the roads from our driveway to Franklin were bare and dry, and the roads in the retail area were also bare and dry. Canadian Jason was speechless. I kept telling him that the roads in the subdivisions and the side roads were probably still not clear and thus people weren’t going to work and most things were closed . His response was that “roads don’t have to be bare and dry to drive.” My response was “you clearly didn’t grow up here.”

This meme isn’t far from the truth

Today life went back to normal. The snow is long gone, the kids went back to school today and the grocery stores were open and re-stocked. We can now buy milk, bread and eggs again. One would think after 11 years of southern living Jason would understand the stampede to the grocery store. I think he gets it now after our Saturday experience with everything being closed. If you don’t buy your groceries before the snow you are doomed. The shelves will be cleared of food, the restaurants and grocery stores will be closed, and if you didn’t plan ahead you will be living on whatever you can dig up in your pantry for a few days. He has resisted this idea for 11 years, but the light bulb is finally coming on. The south loses its mind if it snows and nothing is going to change that.

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Baner