Southerners and Snow

The thought of snow out here in our “neck of the woods” throws us into a “tizzy”. It is quite different from my experience growing up in New York where the city didn’t stop even if there was a foot of snow on the ground. A foot of snow on the ground around here would surely lead to everything being closed down indefinitely. We just don’t know what to do with snow.

This morning I woke up to this:

I began laughing as I was drinking my coffee, thinking about all of the things that happen when we “small town southerners” get any word that there might be snow coming. The more I thought about it, the more I had to share some of these quirky things with you all.  So, here we go:

• Us working folks that long for one or two more days off from the hustle and bustle keep an hourly watch for snow because we know as soon as it begins falling there is a 99.9% chance that we will not have to go to work for a couple of days. In my house, until we see snow, we literally walk to the window and peer out to see if we see any signs of snow, check the forecast repeatedly to make sure nothing has changed, and text our friends to see if it snowing where they are. Once the snow begins to fall, I begin to watch my email, waiting for that email that lets me know that everything is closed and I do not have to work the following day. As I am waiting for the work email,  my daughter is guarding the phone waiting for the robocall that lets her out of her misery by announcing there will be NO SCHOOL the following morning. I too, breathe a sigh of relief when this call comes in because as I told you in Bad Moms Unite! – Why does school start at 8am? we are at war in this house during the school year.
• If the forecast calls for the snow to begin at 7pm, our schools are going to release the children at 1pm instead of the normal 3:30pm release. They say the early release is for safety (looking at them with the side eye). But, since my daughter loves these early releases, I dare not question the real reason behind these decisions. Plus, the truth be told, I get it. If I were an educator, I would jump at any opportunity to send those “little darlings” home to their mama’s early too.

We develop an insatiable appetite for bread, milk, and eggs. My boyfriend and I made it to the grocery store around 6:30pm last night to grab our rations before the snow began. When we got in the store I started gathering things to make a soup and my boyfriend made a b-line to see if there was any bread left. Unfortunately, we were too late! The bread and milk shelves were clean, except for the whole wheat or natural grain bread that cost $3.99, or more, a loaf. With no other options, we decided on a whole wheat, whole grain bread to make the panini’s. Needless to say those sandwiches didn’t go over well with the kids last night.   But, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the store without any bread. I mean, there has to be some logical explanation to stocking up on bread, milk, and eggs, even though I haven’t figured it out yet. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND???

Wait, my mom and daughter helped me to remember why we stock pile milk like there is no tomorrow. As I was writing this, I got this text from my oldest daughter:

Geez, how could I forget! We southerners love to make snow cream! That’s right, snow cream. From what I can remember as a child, it is a combination of clean, fresh snow, vanilla extract, milk or evaporated milk, and sugar all mixed together. My paternal grandmother used to love to make this stuff when I was little. As I sat there faking sheer delight while eating it, I always wondered why we couldn’t just buy some wonderful Maola ice cream instead of milk, bread, and eggs when we went to the grocery store. So, it goes without saying, I cannot take credit for passing this tradition down to my daughter.

I couldn’t end my post without sharing one of my besties talking about this bread and milk dilemma in the south. Joan (jovan367), always makes me laugh! Check her out:

Despite our quirky southern ways, today I will enjoy this time safely tucked away in my house, with my crew, and hope that the sun doesn’t shine too hard so that we can have another day like this tomorrow!!!

Much love,

Tonza

Of course I am looking forward to you all sharing your crazy snow habits with me 🙂