Last Friday night the words rang true for our area of North Georgia. It wasn’t much but it was enough to excite the hearts of children of all ages. I include myself in that “child of all ages.”
The real excitement was yet to come. There was another prediction of snow in the forecast. Snow was to hit our area last Sunday night and continue into Monday. The amount of accumulation was going to be more than that of the earlier part of the weekend.
Weather forecasting certainly isn’t what it was back in the days when we lived on the farm. In those days, the heart was not treated to the thrill of seeing weather reports on television with the white image of approaching snow to our area.
As is the tradition of us Southerners, closings of all kinds were announced for Monday. Already, we had been treated to what seemed to be premature closings of businesses and cancellations of some athletic contests on Friday and Saturday.
It is not known what to call the calamity of the failure to live up to those predictions for Sunday night and Monday of those computer models used by the National Weather Service. I only know that a personal watch late into Sunday night did not produce the beginning of the big snow. So, to bed it was to await the excitement of Monday morning.
The disappointment, frustration and maybe anger of waking up to sunshine on Monday are more than emotions are supposed to handle.
Let’s give the weather people credit. As a rule, they do a good job of predicting rain, storms, and floods. The specific minute a storm is going to pass by a community in certain areas is a matter of amazement. The matter of snow prediction is another matter.
Possibly for better results we could go back to the old Indian practice heard several years ago: It seems than on an early fall day, the Indians asked their chief if the winter was going to be cold and snowy. Without hesitation, the chief without real knowledge answered that the winter was going to be cold and snow was going to be prevalent. His advice was that members of his village gather all the wood they could and shore up their wigwams and other buildings.
The chief wanted to be sure of his prediction and advice so he called the National Weather Service and asked about the coming winter. He was told that it was indeed going to be a cold and snowy winter.
The chief went back to his people and advised they increase their efforts to collect wood and shore up their residences. A little later he called the Weather Service again and asked. The answer was the same: The winter was going to be cold.
Again, the chief went back to his people and advised them to increase their efforts.
As winter got closer he again called the National Weather Service and asked for verification of their prediction. He wanted to know on what basis they claimed a cold and snowy winter.
“Our evidence is indisputable,” the meteorologist answered. “The Indians are gathering firewood and shoring up their teepees like crazy.”
Our area’s small snow did not prevent my regular hour walk late Friday as the snow just began. It was great and took me back to the big snow of 1993. I was jogging in those days but the snow allowed only for an unforgettable walk down the middle of a deserted and dark South Wall Street. A warm house at the end of that walk was a pleasure.
In closing, let me emphasize that one unannounced and surprised snow day from school is worth more than three scheduled holidays. Ask any teacher or student.
Post a Comment