In the past 48 hours or so, Madison and other parts of the Midwest were finally given a snow storm! This came one day after Madison broke a record high of 1975, when it was 50 degrees. It got all the way up to 53 degrees, in Wisconsin, in January. A lot of people here were beginning to tell me they didn’t know what was going on, that they weren’t lying about winter, how weird it was, and so on. Winter has been quite easy!
The snow storm wasn’t bad, either. I didn’t find it that windy or cold. It was only slightly annoying that as I walked, snow got in my eyes. I also find it strange that I basically have to get dressed again on top of my clothes when I leave work to go back out into the snow.
The first day of the storm, the snow as it fell was mostly a nuisance and the wind blew it around on the ground like it was dust. My coworker said it looked like an awfully cold sandstorm. It was difficult to focus on checking in the periodicals we receive at the Wisconsin Historical Society, because I kept looking out at the window to see the way the snow and wind played together on the roof tops!
When I got home, I opened the door and shouted to Derek, my boyfriend, to come play. He hastily put on his boots and jacket, and we kicked around the powder for a long time. We dragged our feet in it. We watched a dog in the dog park below (we live on a ridge) play in the snow. Then we decided to walk down to the lake to see if it froze. On the ridge I live on, there’s steps leading down to the street — these were completely covered so we had to gingerly find our way, laughing the entire time. On the way back up them later, I fell smack down into the steps! The snow caught my fall, though. :)
The lake was not completely frozen over; the parts along the man-made “shore” were still only mere slush. It was so cool to see the snow on top of the frozen lake. We threw a lot of sticks to see if we could break any of the ice. Then we drew in the snow like it was sand on a beach (of course the words “Derek” “loves” “Dana” were written — what else do people write when they are given a stick and landscape?).
The most magical part was when I looked down at my hands, which were in dark gloves, and saw it: a SNOWFLAKE! I have been in snow before, but very rarely, and I honestly can’t remember ever looking down closely. I don’t know why it took me so long. They are so beautiful and sparkly and … majestic. Derek and I, in our excitement, kept pointing out snowflakes on each other, like we were monkeys picking at nits.
I was also transfixed by the sound of cars on the un-shoveled roads. They sound like they are in padded rooms, and they roll along so much more slowly and quietly than usual. Everything felt quieter and calmer. I missed my signal to walk across the street because I couldn’t stop staring and listening.
The snow has become bigger today — it is much easier to see the large flakes, and they don’t dance like sand. The cold isn’t too bad. It wasn’t too hard for Derek to dig our car out of the snow; it was about 5-6″. Maybe living in snow won’t be so bad …?
