places to go

 when i was first forming words, i used to pronounce it "nohss".  snow, those notorious microscopic fractal flakes that combine in an effort to drastically change your entire environment.  i've always loved the snow, for it's beauty first, but also as an excuse to hunker down and bundle up, to skip school or work , do projects at home and sip hot beverages while watching the flakes fall.   i love the way crystalline icicles form on the eaves, how the windows fog up from the heat inside, i love how everything stops for a minute while everyone reconfigures.  the inclement weather requires people to slow down, which they don't always appreciate. 

yes, snow can be an inconvenience.  i know that story well.  growing up, my dad worked as director of operations in transit, and so snow days were filled with a bit of dread.  living in the northwest, i'd venture to say that most people aren't accustomed to driving in the ice.  those snow days represented days he would get up long before daylight and spend his day chasing around buses in crisis.  those were the days of chaining and sliding and towing out of ditches and crashes and busy urgent walkie talkie conversations between hissing, the days before cell phones.  on those days, my dad worked extra long and hard.  because in the city, life didn't exactly stop for the snow.  it couldn't.  most folks just didn't have that luxury.  and people always have places to go.