Mama Kat Thursday: Snow

 Today's Mama Kat prompt is: "Write a post inspired by the word: snow."

I definitely have a lot of snow memories.

I grew up in middle Indiana, southwest of Indianapolis and our property was heavily forested with deciduous trees, like oak, maple, tulip, beech, hickory, etc. Snow accumulation generally varied from 3 to 6 inches and, on very rare occasions, up to 10 or 12 inches.

Crocus Buds in Snow in Indiana

When you live with snow you learn there's "good snow" and "bad snow." Good snow is light and fluffy with enough stickiness to it to roll it into balls to throw or build a snowman  and thick enough to go sledding on. Bad snow is slushy, icy, too thin or otherwise too  miserable for any use.
Of course, that is a kid's point of view on the value of snow.

I used to love the look of new fallen snow on the trees that bent them into tunnels we could walk through like a winter wonderland.
I also have many fond memories of sledding on plastic sleds with my sisters down the rather steep hill that led to the creek--avoiding smacking into some tree trunk at the bottom was always a challenge!

We built lots of snowmen. I recall a rather large one our Mother helped us build that was seated in one of our metal lawn chairs. He wore galoshes and hat!
Snow fall was also exciting because it often meant a day off from school for us, so we were always delighted to see it.

I've also seen it snow here in north Florida, where it often hovers around freezing temps during winter. One Christmas Eve many years ago, about 7 pm in the evening for 30 minutes, huge snowflakes fell. We happened to be driving home from Kmart right then and it was so funny seeing all the people stop where they were to stick their tongues out to try and catch a flake! 

Another time, on Christmas morning for an hour, it hailed tiny ice balls that coated the ground and accumulated along peoples roofs giving everything the appearance of a "light snow." 

The whole process required for snow to even happen is actually pretty magical when you think about it. It has very precise requirements. Too cold and it's hail or sleet; too warm and it's just rain. There must be the exact "just rightness" of moisture and temperature for it to happen.

Even more miraculous: no single snowflake is ever like another.

Snow is, indeed, a wonder. 

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