Snow in May
19/05/19 04:15
A skiff of snow on the deck isn’t what I would call typical for May 19. We’ve been longing for some spring weather around here, and although there have been some genuinely nice days, and it isn’t all that atypical for us to have plenty of moisture at this time of the year, I confess that I’m a little tired of snow. There’s really nothing to complain about. I won’t have to shovel this snow. And when you live in the forest, it is misplaced to be sad about any form of moisture. The wet spring helps improve the general health of the forest and we can remember the dry summers when we were sniffing the air every few moments and living in fear of wildfire.
One of the things about our ever-connected world with its 24/7 news cycle is that we are fairly aware of severe weather that is happening in other parts of the country. Texas and Oklahoma suffered tornadoes over the weekend and the forecast calls for more tornadoes early this week. I complain about a few snowflakes, but they don’t pack the destructive force of a tornado. At least a couple of tornados have been reported in Nebraska, which is closer to home.
Added to the weather news are the predictions of flooding. The wet weather that is forecast for the week to come will run off quickly from already-saturated hills and the streams in the hills are already running full. As the water makes its way down to the major rivers, downstream flooding is sure to increase and there are some places that are already overwhelmed with water.
It really isn’t reasonable for me to complain about the weather when its effects are so dramatic and life-disrupting for others. I’m sleeping safe and secure in my home on top of the hill and a bit of snow on my deck is giving me a story to tell. It isn’t quite as dramatic as the May 11 blizzard of a few years ago, but snow on the 19th of May will be something I can report to my grandchildren.
Recently I had a conversation with some friends who are planning to relocate to another part of the country. They aren’t sure where the next job will turn up, but they are definitely making a country-wide search and while they consider their options, they’ve had a few conversations about where they would like to live. Florida came up several times in our conversations. Suffering from a bit of seasonal affective disorder, the idea of sun and beaches is very attractive to them. The thought of hurricanes and such flat land when the waters rise would give me pause in considering that state, as would the crowding and traffic, at least around its major cities. The conversation with friends got me to thinking about how different we are. I’ve never had a job where location was first among considerations. My calling has always been to serve where I am needed and although we’ve generally served in places north and west of the center of the lower 48 states, the needs of the church have always taken precedence over my personal desires. Our son and his family, however, are about the same age as my friends who are considering Florida. They live in Washington State, very close to the coast and very close to the Canadian border. It is as far from Florida you can get in the US without going to Alaska or Hawaii. Our family members love the pacific northwest and are glad to live there. And it isn’t because they haven’t experienced other parts of the country. Our son lived with us in North Dakota, Idaho and South Dakota and he went to graduate school in North Carolina, so he has some sense of other parts of the country.
I frequently joke about moving to the Yukon and I am fascinated by places that have even longer and colder winters with more snow than we get around here. I’m not sure what the attraction is all about, but I prefer shoveling snow to mowing grass and I find cold weather to be easier to bear than hot weather. Hot and muggy is very uncomfortable for me.
I realize that even being able to have a conversation about where we would like to live is a luxury that is not afforded to most of the people in the world. They don’t have the means to pick up and relocate. When refugees move, their minds are generally focused on the places they have been forced to leave behind not on the destination. When we lived in North Dakota our church sponsored refugees who had fled Vietnam. In Idaho, our church sponsored refugees from Rwanda. In both cases, our new neighbors were not given a choice of destination once approved for transportation from their refugee camps. In both cases we had long conversations about how different the weather was than in their original homes. In both cases the resettled refugees chose to move a few years after getting established. Having a choice about where to live is a luxury that most people don’t experience.
Given all of that, I have to say that we have been very fortunate about the places we have been called to live. Our home in the hills has a good balance of summer and winter and though we don’t get extended spring or autumn some years, when we do have those seasons they are wonderful. The tornadoes seem to stick to the plains for the most part and we’ve learned to hunker down and endure the blizzards. A good wood stove and a pantry filled with the essentials make it pretty easy to live even if the power is out for a day or so.
So no complaints about the snow, even if we get the additional snow that is forecast for the next day. It will mix with rain and it will melt quickly and we are blessed to live where we do.
One of the things about our ever-connected world with its 24/7 news cycle is that we are fairly aware of severe weather that is happening in other parts of the country. Texas and Oklahoma suffered tornadoes over the weekend and the forecast calls for more tornadoes early this week. I complain about a few snowflakes, but they don’t pack the destructive force of a tornado. At least a couple of tornados have been reported in Nebraska, which is closer to home.
Added to the weather news are the predictions of flooding. The wet weather that is forecast for the week to come will run off quickly from already-saturated hills and the streams in the hills are already running full. As the water makes its way down to the major rivers, downstream flooding is sure to increase and there are some places that are already overwhelmed with water.
It really isn’t reasonable for me to complain about the weather when its effects are so dramatic and life-disrupting for others. I’m sleeping safe and secure in my home on top of the hill and a bit of snow on my deck is giving me a story to tell. It isn’t quite as dramatic as the May 11 blizzard of a few years ago, but snow on the 19th of May will be something I can report to my grandchildren.
Recently I had a conversation with some friends who are planning to relocate to another part of the country. They aren’t sure where the next job will turn up, but they are definitely making a country-wide search and while they consider their options, they’ve had a few conversations about where they would like to live. Florida came up several times in our conversations. Suffering from a bit of seasonal affective disorder, the idea of sun and beaches is very attractive to them. The thought of hurricanes and such flat land when the waters rise would give me pause in considering that state, as would the crowding and traffic, at least around its major cities. The conversation with friends got me to thinking about how different we are. I’ve never had a job where location was first among considerations. My calling has always been to serve where I am needed and although we’ve generally served in places north and west of the center of the lower 48 states, the needs of the church have always taken precedence over my personal desires. Our son and his family, however, are about the same age as my friends who are considering Florida. They live in Washington State, very close to the coast and very close to the Canadian border. It is as far from Florida you can get in the US without going to Alaska or Hawaii. Our family members love the pacific northwest and are glad to live there. And it isn’t because they haven’t experienced other parts of the country. Our son lived with us in North Dakota, Idaho and South Dakota and he went to graduate school in North Carolina, so he has some sense of other parts of the country.
I frequently joke about moving to the Yukon and I am fascinated by places that have even longer and colder winters with more snow than we get around here. I’m not sure what the attraction is all about, but I prefer shoveling snow to mowing grass and I find cold weather to be easier to bear than hot weather. Hot and muggy is very uncomfortable for me.
I realize that even being able to have a conversation about where we would like to live is a luxury that is not afforded to most of the people in the world. They don’t have the means to pick up and relocate. When refugees move, their minds are generally focused on the places they have been forced to leave behind not on the destination. When we lived in North Dakota our church sponsored refugees who had fled Vietnam. In Idaho, our church sponsored refugees from Rwanda. In both cases, our new neighbors were not given a choice of destination once approved for transportation from their refugee camps. In both cases we had long conversations about how different the weather was than in their original homes. In both cases the resettled refugees chose to move a few years after getting established. Having a choice about where to live is a luxury that most people don’t experience.
Given all of that, I have to say that we have been very fortunate about the places we have been called to live. Our home in the hills has a good balance of summer and winter and though we don’t get extended spring or autumn some years, when we do have those seasons they are wonderful. The tornadoes seem to stick to the plains for the most part and we’ve learned to hunker down and endure the blizzards. A good wood stove and a pantry filled with the essentials make it pretty easy to live even if the power is out for a day or so.
So no complaints about the snow, even if we get the additional snow that is forecast for the next day. It will mix with rain and it will melt quickly and we are blessed to live where we do.