I figured I had to write a post about the snow – after all, as most Brits will know, this has been a pretty momentous week, snow-wise – and I have to keep the rest of the world updated somehow.
I could have written a post about how snow makes the cold so much more acceptable. About how it’s the most snow I’ve seen in my lifetime, and how we got two days off school, and the exciting prospect of preparing for a third (and generally how school is a party because half the people don’t make it in). About how much I hate “wet” snow, but have encountered “dry” snow for the first time in my life and it’s so much better. Or about how the UK is going through a salt and grit shortage, meaning it’s being rationed between counties. Mine only got enough to grit one lane on our part of the M251, which meant that my city, which happens to have the steepest main road in the county didn’t get any, and so the road was closed. It’s ridiculous if you think about it, because we’ve had plenty of warning that we’re going to have more than the usual annual February snow day, like the October snow, and the coldest January for ages? Did the government not think to stock up? (And also guys, did you not do Chemistry GCSE? Just add another impurity to lower the melting temperature, it’s doesn’t HAVE to be salt…)
BUT, as I was considering what I was actually going to blog about in the car on the way home, I realised something. I have OCD about snow.
I like snow, really. I like snowball fights, and snowmen (or women), and all that stuff, so I’m happy when it’s snowing. But I HATE it when it starts to melt, and I’ve just realised why. I like everything to be covered in snow – it’s either all or nothing, and I really don’t like seeing tiny dribs and drabs of snow under bushes and at the sides of the road. I don’t like it all being kicked up, and I hate slush. I don’t mind it if it’s dry snow, and it’s just trampled, as long as the pavement is still all covered in white – but usually in London, we just get wet snow. And I hate it when it melts, like it started to today, after last night’s “wet” snowfall from the Arctic (Sunday and Monday it snowed heavily from Russia, “dry” snow apparently. Brilliant stuff.)
So, when you want to start smoothing out the snow to lie evenly over pavements, you know you have OCD. When you want to brush away the snow so that it doesn’t melt unevenly, that’s really sad. And this is what has been secretly irritating me all day.
Yeah.
- huge motorway which encircles London, very busy in rush hour on a normal day [↩]
“how school is a party because half the people don’t make it in”
I love those kinds of days. We’re pretty used to snow in Canada, but when the roads are really bad and a lot of students don’t bother going to school, we usually get to hang around and have fun.
I get happy when I see snow melting because it means that winter is ending! Kind of… except when it melts and turns to ice, and then snows a lot again later.
I like playing in the snow, but I don’t play in it enough to justify its existence
This has actually been my first snowfall too. I’m in the west midlands, and we’ve been having loads of dry snow. It’s really bizarre; last year (or the year before) we didn’t get so much as a frost, but this year we’re getting it all!
I totally agree with you about the OCD thing. I can’t stand seeing parts of the pavement empty of snow, or the roads all slushy from where cars have driven etc. I LOVE the whole blanket-of-snow-all-over-the-ground thing, and are always tempted to smooth it all out again or avoid walking on it to prevent footprints. It gives me thrills when I see driveways still completely white without any marks. It’s so sad. =’]
I love the days off school. It was getting to that point when I was just so stressed that I really needed four days off, and voila, two school snow days + weekend = four days off. =’]
Aimee’s last blog post..Personal info?