Snow Day!

Yesterday Florence, Alabama saw more snowfall in two hours than all of the snowfalls over the last decade combined. It’s possible that this is an exaggeration. If so, the exaggeration is slight. It was without a doubt more snow than I have seen since my first year living in Paducah.

When my son and I left the house around 7 am there I noticed a light dusting on the ground. As we pulled out of the drive way a heavy snow began to fall. We drove to my parents’ house to walk their dog while they are out of town. By the time we got there the roads had begun to turn white. After he walked Otis, snow covered the streets.

We drove to my office and saw that the weather was already wreaking havoc with the local traffic. In front of the Middle School the road showed the signs of an out of control car skidding and sliding wildly. The tracks ended in a snow-covered lot where a car sat surrounded by small trees and brush.

We stopped at my office for a few minutes and then I took my son to school. The snow continued to fall at a steady pace. The trip was uneventful. When I returned my tire tracks had disappeared under the newly fallen snow.

Later I left for Jury Duty. As I pulled into the parking lot, I got a call from Will Powell, a friend and assistant DA, telling me to go home. The judge cancelled court. The roads were sloppy and slippery. When all was said and done Florence saw about 4-5 inches of snow by 9:30 or so.

Eventually I got a call from the school system. Schools would let out at 11:30. I drove to pick up my son and daughter at their respective schools. The three of us headed home for a snow day.

My daughter wanted to build a snowman, so she immediately got her gloves, scarf, and hat. She was ready to venture out into our Winter Wonderland of a front yard. I told her I would help and grabbed my own gloves and hat. My son decided to stay inside.

We determined that next to our mailbox was an ideal spot for a snowman. We began gathering snow and commenced constructing our snowman. We built our base and had just begun the midsection when we were ambushed.

The Haddock family came running from our neighbor’s yard with voices wailing and arms flailing. They carried a bucket full of snowballs and hurled them at us, their unsuspecting prey.

After the snowball barrage, they invited us over for a snowball fight. They had snowballs, snow forts, and chili. The chili piqued my interest. Their son got my son to come outside and they headed over to the Haddock house for snowballs and chili.

I stayed behind to finish up Mr. Stanicles (stan-i-clees). Then loaded a bucket with snowballs and headed over to join the battle.

The battle was epic. 4 Haddocks, 3 Coats, 3 Thompsons, and a Bagwell spent a couple of hours making and throwing snowballs, fortifying snow forts, and lots of dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodging. Faces were hit, feelings were hurt, fingers were frozen. Some had good chili. (Thanks, Haddocks.) All had a good time.

As the battle wound down, we decided another sneak attack was in order. We loaded our buckets with snowballs and headed for the Bagwell home. We sent their daughter in to lure her parents out. Soon they came out and were met with a salvo of spherical snow orbs. Eric even fought back. It was an epic battle.

Then we set out to a small park in the neighborhood. Once there the kids decided to swing. The responsible adult males decided to make “the biggest snowball in the world!” And so we did. We rolled and rolled and rolled until it literally would not roll any further. You’d be surprised how heavy snow can be.

After the strain and stress of pushing around 1000 pounds of snow we were all tired. It was time to head home. The kids paired up and dispersed to various houses. The adults went home and (if my actions were any indication) stayed motionless for a long, long time.

It was a great snow day. I look forward to the next one approximately 10 years from now.