Old Retired Guy Blog
January 16, 2007
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Snow Days
It seems like it rarely snows in Portland any more. I suppose that global warming is trying to tell us something. When our kids were growing up we had a number of years where we would get a few snow days during the winter. We finally got a large enough snow fall this year to close the schools. The neighborhood kids are happy and so am I.
Kathy and I once spent a Christmas camped in Joshua Tree National Monument in California. On Christmas Eve we went into town, Twenty-Nine Palms, and had a cheap meal at a local restaurant. The stores had wreaths up and lights up but it was a dry, barren place that seemed particularly devoid of Christmas Spirit. I don't think it's because of the Marine Corps Base located there. After all, Marines believe in Santa like the rest of us. A nice snowfall would have made a world of difference! Portland isn't by any means a dry, barren place. No, it enjoys wallowing in gray skies and rain showers a lot during the winter. But when that rare snow fall comes along, the spirits rise right up. Must have to do with that "seasonally affected disorder" that some clever person named. (What if the word for "sad" had been flugelhorn? What would he have called the disorder then?) Maybe I will go out and walk in the snow today!
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I've
always thought that if I were King of the Universe, or maybe just King of the
World, I would issue a proclamation that henceforth all of my subjects, young or
old, shall be given snow days. Why should snow days be reserved just for
school kids? So often one of the big stories on a snowy day will be how
much money the economy lost because so many people were stranded indoors and
couldn't get out to shop. Well that's just hogwash -- you heard me right,
hogwash! If some people don't buy bread today will they just decide to no longer
eat bread? No, they'll go out and buy bread tomorrow. If some people
don't get those new pairs of jeans today does that mean they will be running
around in their underwear? No, they'll go out and buy jeans tomorrow.
(One or two may still run around in their underwear, but that's a different
topic.)
Now
don't get me wrong. I don't like to shovel snow, I don't necessarily like
to drive in the snow, and I don't even always go out to walk in the snow
(especially if it's windy and in single digits). But, there's something
about a nice fresh snowfall that just seems to brighten up the day, both
physically and psychologically.
