I Get a Little Warm in My Heart When I Think of Winter...

Well, I only blogged a little bit about the miraculously white Christmas we had here in Dixie. & here we are, miraculously snow-covered again!

Can I be honest with y'all, though? The truth is I am a bit of a snow grinch. I went to college in Ohio & saw more snow during those four years than I ever cared to see. One of the reasons I moved back home to Alabama after graduating college was to get back to the climate that I considered "normal," where snow is a rare, fleeting sight. So although I can appreciate its beauty (from inside my warm house), I mostly find it inconvenient&messy.

Also, while I'm being completely honest with y'all, I must shamefully confess that I've become a bit of a snow snob, as well. Although I've spent a total of twenty-four of my almost-twenty-eight years living in Alabama, those four years in the snow belt of Ohio created a seasoned pro who didn't think twice about bundling up to trudge across icy sidewalks to class, or shoveling the car out of a snowbank to drive it through a blizzard to work twenty miles away. So now, if a snow flurry falls a hundred miles north of here, & I arrive at Target only to find that the pharmacy is closed because of the "impending, inclement weather," I find myself parodying the "Really?! with Seth&Amy" segment from Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. You know, "Really?! Does the pharmacist commute all the way down here from some mountaintop in the Smokies? I managed to get here just fine. Y'all call this winter weather? Why, when I lived in Ohio..."

Annoying, right? My Prince thinks so, too.

& yes, I totally get that "we just aren't prepared for it" down here the way regions that routinely receive snowfall are. But there were a lot of days that the college town I lived in in Ohio didn't bother to "re-salt" the roads after a fresh snowfall, & you know what? It's pretty simple...drive slowly, & avoid hitting your accelerator or brakes when going around curves or over bridges. Pump your brakes gently when coming to an intersection or stopping. & yes, sometimes accidents still happen - just like they do on wet roads or in everyday driving conditions.

Don't get me wrong - I hated driving (& walking) in it. But I had no choice. They didn't cancel classes or close businesses because a new batch of dangerous ice&snow had landed on the roads&sidewalks. & the South gets enough of the winter stuff every year that would it really be that much of a drain on our city budgets to stock up on a supply of salt to keep the roads passable in these random instances of ice? Surely it wouldn't be more of a hit to the budget than the costs of closing government offices & schools every time a meteorologist spots a flurry traveling in our general direction?

Anyway, so I suppose that's why I didn't blog much about the white Christmas of 2010 or the little dustings of snow that came in 2009. Yes, I appreciate the beauty & the novelty of snow. But overall, I'm a bit of a snow grinch & a snow snob, so I find it better to just be quiet about it - rather than sounding like the grouchy snot that snow turns me into.

(I don't want to come across as a ranting pessimist, really I don't. I'm embarrassed by my attitude!)

However, I have to admit that the silver lining to my snow cloud comes in the form of an amazed, delighted little toddler. She goes back&forth between the windows of the house, watching the snow fall & exclaiming, "Snow!" She will play in it for as long as we will let her. & unlike my grumpy grownup self, she doesn't mind bundling up in layer after layer, if it means getting to play in the snow. When she falls down in it, she giggles instead of groaning.

Pretty Little Bare Feet doesn't have a to-do list that can't get done if she can't get out on the roads to go anywhere. She has

her mama

& the White Dog

- & bonus! Daddy gets to stay at home from work, too!

She has a steady supply of

apple juice,

Cheerios,

& Greek yogurt.

She has books to read & toys to play with.

So today I shall blog about snow...

We have snow! In Alabama! It's pretty, & we're "snowed in!" We're going to play in it, & we're going to make snow cream.

(I'm even going to share the recipe with y'all...it's delicious.)

I have a Snuggie. ;) I have a MacBook. I have books to read. We have power. & most importantly, I have a sweet family that enjoys&loves the snow, so I will enjoy their happiness & love them for their love of snow.

(Well, except for the White Dog...she hates the snow, too. Mostly because she's so tiny that she gets lost in it easily, & it's cold&wet on her dainty little paws.)

(all photos via assorted Alabama news&weather blogs)

snow cream

(yield: 8 to 10 servings)

• 8 cups snow
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Place snow into a large bowl.

*Pour condensed milk over & add vanilla.

*Mix to combine.

*Serve immediately in bowls.