When we moved to Kansas City almost 23 years ago, my three children had never seen snow. We left Tennessee when Matt was four years old, and we lived in Florida for two years before we made our way to the Midwest. I've written previously about the large picture window in the dining room of the house we lived in when we came here, and about how my kiddos would often press their little faces against that window as they peered outside. Almost every time the weather guys talk about snow, my mind flies back to the first snow of the winter following our move to KC the previous summer. Matt, Brad and Meghann stood at that big window gazing in amazement at the huge white flakes that fell from the sky. When I recall that day, I always think about my then 3-year-old Bradley. Brad was a pacie boy ... he loved his pacie in a big way, so much so that he rarely took it out of his mouth and would talk around it when he had something to say. And yes, he was stinking, stinking cute when he did it. I will never forget what Brad did the day the snow came ... he took his pacie out of his mouth, looked up at me, pointed out the window and said, "It 'nowing, Mommie ... it 'nowing out dere."
For several days, the weather guys and gals here in Kansas City have been predicting the arrival of a major winter storm tonight. They've kind of gone back and forth as to whether we are going to get sleet and freezing rain before the moisture turns into snow, but they all are in agreement that over the next 24 hours or so we are going to get dumped on when it comes to some form of frozen precipitation. In fact, they are predicting we could see as much as a foot of snow before the storm finally winds down on Friday. I only remember a couple of times over the last 10 years when the owners of my company called us to the main conference room to tell us to plan on working from home because of the weather. Today was one of those times, which tells me they think the weather folks are accurate in their forecast.
Traffic was light this evening as I drove home, probably because a lot of people who work downtown left early to go raid the grocery stores. You couldn't pay me enough money to go to a grocery store tonight, by the way ... I've got six jars of peanut butter, two dozen eggs, sugar-free jello and Cool Whip, and food for my hounds, so I'm good. But back to my drive home ... my commute that normally takes 40 to 45 minutes was a quick 25 minutes tonight, and it's always a pleasant surprise for me when that happens. I couldn't help but think about the coming storm as I drove, and I found myself glancing more than a time or two at the gray skies outside the windows of my car. I wondered aloud what time the snow will start, how much will fall and just how messy the roads will be. And as I wondered about those things and about whether the weather guys are correct in their predictions, I began to think about the times in my life when I've braced myself for storms I believed were heading my way.
See, here's the thing ... sometimes I'm dead-on right about storms and what they will bring, and sometimes I'm ... well, sometimes I'm wrong. My blog is a good example of the truth of that statement. Sometimes I pen a post that I know is going to bring forth a storm of commentary and opinion, and sometimes that commentary isn't what I would term sunny or bright in nature. But then there are also times when a post that I'm afraid will cause the skies to darken and unleash a brooding torrent all around me actually does just the opposite and helps people instead. In the next couple of days, I'm going to post the link to the video Brad and I are working on that I mentioned in an earlier post. And the closer we get to finishing the final cut, the more nervous I get about whether or not a storm will follow closely behind its release. But then I think about the people the video could help, and at the end of the day, that's what really matters most of all ... helping people who need help.
So ... I wonder if the ground will be white when Julie and Ollie and I rise in the morning? I wonder.
No comments:
Post a Comment