To everyone who wished for a white christmas, thank you.
Thank you from the disabled, who can now spend the holiday homebound and alone.
Thank you from the snowplow crews who get to spend christmas eve risking their lives in the storm instead of with their families.
Thank you from the travelers whose trips to grandma’s house ended in ditches and shelters and emergency rooms.
As for me, I’m wishing for a hurricane or tornado. Don’t bother to thank me.
Well, I’ve been stuck at home alone since the big snow hit yesterday, but they’re starting to get things cleared a bit. A person just has to live with the weather, not much you can do about it, “for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Hi,Chuck.If there’s one thing we 'Brits. lead the world in, it’s talking about the weather(and no,it’s not because nothing interesting ever happens here!-Hah! beat you to that one didn’t I Zub.?) In England now,the ‘olde worlde’ white Christmas,so beloved of Christmas card artists,is exactly that,a thing of the past-thanks to global warming.We are lucky to see snow in ‘winter’ now(i 'm not even sure if we have ‘seasons’ as such)it just rains,followed by very wet ‘springs’,which can cause havoc for us gardeners keen to get another year’s vegetable crops planted.You can tell when summer comes-the rain is warm. Autumn means wet leaves! Answer;stay indoors and practice whistling.
Also the farmers whose land has been dehydrated due to lack of snow thank you. This spring when the thaw brings little in the way of needed water they’ll thank you for the snow that did come.
Those that make their living in snow related activities thank you (ie. snow removal, ski resort, etc.).
Those animals and plants that need a snow cover for insulation thank you.
Those that grow depressed during this season and find the winter white a nice covering to the grey and dreary days of the season thank you.
Chuck, I’m sorry that the snow has adversely effected you and others, but I don’t think that it is productive to criticize those that are able to prosper from it and able to enjoy it. Even hurricanes have their function.
Erik
I don’t see how it matters, guys. Really. My wishing for snow doesn’t cause the snow, anymore than Chuck’s not wishing for snow is causing the drought that’s devastating ranches in our area. Walden hit it right on the head. Our lot is not to dictate the weather; we can only try to find beauty in what we’re given.
Chuck, I hope you find a way to have a wondrous Christmas, snow or not. Smile. Have a bowl or chowder. If I lived in your town, I’d put the truck in 4WD and go get it for you. 
Tom
Well, its white in Reno, but off the roads
now, so everyone is happy here.
Lolly
I suppose that I shouldn’t have been so sarcastic, as you’ve said, Tom, what I was hoping to say in a much nicer way. Sorry, Chuck; I apologize for responding in a sarcastic manner.
I just think that man has an extreemly limited view of the big picture and while there is plenty of suffering to result from the storm, there are many good things to come as well.
Erik
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2002-12-24 19:21 ]
The farmer wishes for rain;
the traveller, for fair weather.
Chuck,
It may be as you say, or…
Maybe this snow will be the opportunity to put the SUV or just a couple of willing legs to work with a quick jaunt to the store. Maybe the jaunt is preceeded with the visit to the single mother across the street or the older couple next door, to see if they needed any thing picked up.
Maybe both will be fine.
Maybe both feel better knowing they were not isolated.
Maybe the single mother’s 12 year old joins us anyway and picks up some instant chocolat to share when he gets home from his adventure.
Maybe a moments break from shoveling is spent applauding when the snow plow pulls down your street.
Maybe its calling that nephew and suggesting that the traditional Christmas visit be postponed a day so the roads will be clear and hearing his releaved agreement.
Maybe its offering to bring some hot cider to stranded traveler.
Maybe it calling your pastor to see who he’s had trouble getting in touch with in your area.
Maybe Christmas is not only about family,
Maybe its about neighbors and community.
I lived in Edinboro, PA for about 12 years with its 100+ inches of snow per year. Snow can be a great way to get to know your neighbors. I found the cold and snow outside an excellent excuse to find something that will warm my heart.
Maybe it just a time to sit back and …
Norma is travelling all night from SoCal, so we’re hoping the snow will hold off, but we’re not praying for that, but for her safety.
I joke with the Lord about it, but I think He knows I’m only joking (I hope).
Mack
I’m sorry you’re depressed, Chuck. I hope you feel better (if my wish for a white Christmas caused all the bad weather, then of course my wish for you to feel better will make that come true also).
Kevin, you did catch me on that one. Now, I love places where nothing happens–they’re happy places in their way.
For us here, it’s been 4th day of continuous drench, like they decided to move Brittany closer to Belgium. 
But, foul or fair, I like weather as it is : a reminder of how small and vain we are on this planet. All we can do is try and adapt ourselves, not vice-versa. And maybe try and not wreck what we didn’t build.
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2002-12-25 11:20 ]
Hi Zub.,Joyeaux Noel! Merry Christmas! I was just jesting about beating you to it,-I expected some Pythonesque retort about ‘you Eengleesh and your silly weather!!’ you get my drift! Hey,being moved closer to Belgium isn’t such a bad thing-their beers are truly superb!
Believe it or not, I’d gladly give all Belgian abbeys (well, maybe not Chimay’s Trappe) for a pint of true Cornish red ale and some smoked hallibut… (sigh)
PS: I’m not searching for the Holy Grail anymore. I’m searching for Alka-Seltzer, and the toothpaste irritated my skin when shaving, and there’s this big yellow machine thing hovering over my house. Wish it’d stop humming at least : can’t hear what my hair is trying to tell me.
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2002-12-26 05:06 ]
It’s kind of silly to get mad at people because of the weather, seeing as none of us have any control over it (and liking something or wishing for something doesn’t make it happen, so that argument is useless).
As a rule, man’s a fool.
He wants it hot when it is cool.
He wants it cool when it is hot.
He’s never happy with what he’s got.
-Author Unknown-
On 2002-12-26 13:29, Sunnywindo wrote:
As a rule, man’s a fool.
He wants it hot when it is cool.
He wants it cool when it is hot.
He’s never happy with what he’s got.
True enough. But I am grateful for air conditioning in the summer, and heat in the winter.
My sisters and I habitually mail packages too late to arrive for any happy event (Christmas, birthdays, whatever) so this holiday has followed suit as well.
I survived being snowed in on Christmas and survived getting out my driveway to go to work on the 26th and will enjoy a delayed holiday meal with my favorite neighbor on Sunday evening. We unanimously decided it wasn’t worth the risk to drive 20 miles on bad roads for food that would keep just as well until the weather cleared.
Now that I’m set up to telecommute I can just stay home if it’s snowing–or take a vacation day.
M
I’m just glad to be home, alive and breathing. I am an old snow vet, and after enduring years of cold and snow in Chicago, I am damn glad to be in the Black Hills when it snows and it’s cold. I just bundle up, eat deer meat and pop corn until it’s over. It’s a mini-vacation! It could be worse, I could be living on a ranch when spring blizzards hit, and the sheep pack themselves in in a little draw and end up canabalizing each other and eating each other’s tails. Or worse, I could be trying to rescure spring calves in a blizzard, to literally save the ranch. Naw, I love the luxury of being indoors and not haveing to be out there chasing some dumb animals!
Just before noon on Christmas morning, my wife and sons and I loaded ourselves into the car and headed north on the NYS Thruway to our second home upstate, where we were going to meet my parents and brothers and sisters. A light snow was falling.
An hour later, we had gone about 35 miles in quickly worsening conditions and decided to turn around. There was certainly some disappointment, but the radio told of snow falling at the rate of 5 inches an hour in Albany, and we were just 60 miles south of there.
Conditions got significantly worse on the way home, and the return trip took almost 3 hours. Toward the end, my wife realized that we had nothing in the house for dinner, since we had planned on being away through the weekend. Luckily, the family that operates the local Chinese take-out shop wasn’t celebrating Christmas. In the midst of the blizzard, they cooked up and packaged a feast for us.
The car wouldn’t make it up the hill for the last couple hundred yards of the trip, so we had to hike up, dressed for a holiday celebration rather than for a severe weather hike. Still, we made it home safely, had a fine, if unorthodox, Christmas dinner, and marvelled at the incredible scene outside the windows of our warm and safe home. The boys had woken up early that morning, so they went to bed early. That left my wife and I some nice quiet time together (a rarity).
The next morning the snowplows had come through, and I fired up my snowblower and cleared the driveway. We recovered our car, loaded it back up and went off to celebrate. So the plan was delayed a day - no big deal. It actually extended the holiday for me. My sons actually thought the trip to nowhere on Christmas day was exciting!
Keep a postive attitude. Make the most of changes. Read page 449.
Merry Christmas!
Jim