When it comes to weather patterns people either have a very short memory or they indulge in wishful thinking. I often fall prey to the latter. I know we frequently get spring snows. The problem is that the storms are usually preceded by days and often weeks of warm weather. That warm weather makes it all too easy for me to believe that winter has finally folded up its tent and is moving on. This is particularly true because it is something I want to believe. “Please don’t tease me with warmth and then turn down the celestial heater. Bring on the summer! I’m ready for summer!”
Somewhere in the great beyond is a cosmic giggle. It is a happy sound if you are not the butt of the joke. Since we are all the center of our own universes, however, we are far too inclined to take such things personally. The joke probably begins with the fact that we are silly enough to think it is about us. I can almost hear someone far wiser than me saying: “Don’t waste your time damning the weather; prepare yourself for it.” It is a point well taken, but those are not mutually exclusive options. Believe me, I can do both.
The weather forecast predicted snow, a mere dusting it said. When I stepped out of my house the next morning I saw frost on the vehicles in my driveway but no snow. “All right,” I thought, “so it’s cold, big deal.” In all likelihood we would get snow later in the day, but it would not amount to much. The good thing about a light snowfall is that you probably will not have to shovel it. The bad thing is that it still makes the roads slippery. I decided to play it safe by driving to work in the truck that has four wheel drive.
I live at an altitude of six thousand feet. The place where I work is at an altitude of five thousand feet. I did not encounter any snow until I descended to the fifty-five hundred mark. This was odd. It normally snows at the higher elevations first. I put the truck in four wheel drive. The snow got deeper as I got closer to work. It quickly became apparent that I was not the only one who had indulged in wishful thinking. Maybe it is because of their tight budgets but there was not a state or county snowplow anywhere in sight. There were also very few vehicles on the road at this early hour. The few people who did venture out were local residents who are prepared for snow and know how to drive in it. This was fortunate because it minimized the danger posed by other drivers. I decided to take the short cut to work even though it meant I would have to dance the truck up a steep hill. It is the up slopes that require the dancing because you have to go fast enough to keep your momentum or you will slide backwards when your tires lose traction.
The first thing I did upon arriving at work was to bring up a web site that provides information about the local weather, road conditions, and traffic. People who do not live up here expect me to know everything about conditions on the mountain, and I try not to disappoint them. The traffic reports soon told me that the tourists were up and about. I have often said that a large number of California motorists seem to think the perfect way to protect their heads from the rain is to stick them up their asses. They protect their heads from the snow in the same manner. The traffic alerts were reporting many accidents as people slipped and slid into each other and other objects. Fortunately the police and the tow trucks had the roads clear by the time I finished my twelve hour shift and headed for home.
We are supposed to get more snow early next week. Spring either ushers in the summer with warm rain or it ushers out the winter with wet snow. This year spring is a tale of cold weather and the tail of winter. There is nothing personal about that. But I speak for all the tourists who are having their cars repaired and for all of the local residents who are tired of the cold when I say: “Enough with the frigging snow! I don’t care about the solstice; turn up the heat! Let the summer begin!”
First published in macsbackporch.foxtail-farms.com on May 25, 2010
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