First impressions

Today was my first snowed-upon. Being a native of the south, snow is a novelty that has only been in my world on a couple of occasions. And those few occasions involved it already being on the ground.

But today? Today, I saw it fall from the sky.

Ok, technically I saw it fall from the sky around midnight on Tuesday when PC happened to be in town. It was an amusing sort of experience because I could have missed it under normal circumstances. The not-normal circumstances are that my apartment temperature is centrally managed by someone who thinks hell might be a fun place to live. I know this, because my apartment is sweltering hot all the time. I combat it by leaving my windows open. So yes, I leave my windows open when it's in the 20's to manage my apartment temperature. It's that hot. Anyway, I was sitting there by the window Tuesday night when I began getting spritzed. I moved the blinds only to find snow stuck to the screens. It was amazing. PC was there for my first official snow-falling experience.

Today, however, was my first snow falling on me experience. Having heard on the early news that we could expect up to three inches by the afternoon, I wore my new snow boots in. While initially mocked in the morning, I can't tell you how freaking handy they were when we ventured out for lunch. I had one girl in heels on one side of me, and one girl in dress flats on the other. Both holding on to me because I was the only one with grip. Each giggled when I'd stop to stick my foot print into a snow bank. Or, when I'd comment that a snow flake just got in my mouth. Or when I was enthralled by being covered with white flakes all over my black coat. The picture above was my taking another brief detour through a patch of virgin snow.

What can I say?

All that being said, I have a few first impressions.

1. Snow from over night feels/sounds like a nice solid crunch when you step on it. Freshly fallen snow actually feels/sounds like walking on sand in shoes. It also behaves interestingly when you kick it. Not like fake snow at all.
2. It's not as cold as I expected. Walking around in it I mean. Today with snow felt warmer and more tolerable than days prior with no snow.
3. It fascinated me to watch the snow swish around when cars drove by, almost like sand storms. I noticed it got stuck in cracks in the road too, so from above, you could see them.
4. I couldn't figure out why one side walk was completely clear of snow, while the one across was covered in white. I presumed one was warmer than the other. Turns out it's due to salt.
5. Black ice. Not just dangerous for cars.
6. I can see why people complain about the dirty slush. I, however, found it entertaining because I had my slush kryptonite snow boots on.
7. People are a bunch of whiners about snow. It's way less bothersome to walk through than rain.
8. I'm so glad I don't drive. I don't even know what I'd do.
9. I cannot wait for my first stay-home snow day. However, I'm discovering that apparently one has to prepare for staying in like one prepares for a hurricane. I've never actually bought stuff to prepare for a hurricane, despite living there for 33 years.
10. I'd like to know the etiquette about playing in the snow on people's cars. In walking by cars that were clearly parked all day - with 2 - 3 inches of snow on it - I ran my finger through some of it. I debated drawing a picture. Maybe a heart or a smiley. But then I wondered if that was a no-no like drawing in someone's dew or mud. I rationalized that part of why you don't play in dew or mud is because it scratches paint. Snow - I'm not digging down. So? What's the answer my northern friends?