there we were again
shocked and awed
caught off guard
curiously unprepared
given it happens almost every year
tingling with excitement
not to mention the usual
weatherageddon panic
oh! how the forecasters
jumped over each other
giddy in their hyperbole
their sweeping storm-tracking graphics
arcing across green screen maps
fanning our collective dread
with Worst! Storm! Ever! warnings
and other cold front paroxysms
insert image:
toilet paper
flying off market shelves
aka the early weeks
of any good pandemic
insert image:
parka-clad news reporters
yelling into microphones
high atop the highest hills in the city
at the peak of the flurry
insert image:
jack-knifed vehicles abandoned by fools
determined to gun front-wheel drives up hill
scattered like so many pizza boxes
across on the floor of a fraternity on a Saturday night
12.4 inches
as reported
on www.weather.gov
11 inches
as measured
by a yellow wooden ruler
sticking up from a car roof
just outside my door
wrapped in wool blankets
we looked out upon a city
wrapped in its own blanket
white and soft and magical
and covering the confused camila bushes
and sprouting bulbs and trees
that busted out in bud just yesterday
sure it was safely Spring
through the hush of a snow-stilled morning
the exuberant laughter of sledders
our neighborhood turned into a playground
with full families floating forward
along the flattest roads
their cross country skis shushing
their tongues sticking out
to taste the flakes we were so warned about
tromping in boots and coat
I was struck not by the havoc of a winter storm
but by the cheery connecting it brought
the waves and hellos and helpful hands
those three strangers who jumped in to dig out a car
as a father tried to conceal his panic
and his pregnant wife
waddled down the block
boots piled by the door back home
hot toddies warmed our hands
the heater fired up
thankful to have electricity
flakes picked up their pace outside
turning the window into moving art
my snow-savvy friend chuckled
at the dramatics:
“Storms Bring Punishing Cold, Snow and Ice!”
“The Northwest Braces for Blizzard!”
“Snowiest Day in 52 Years!”
“Slush Brings Threat!”
“Puget Sound Pounded by Snow!”
“Northwest to Get a YEAR’s Worth of Snow!”
“Winter Storm Parade Continues!”
“Snow and ice to plaster Pacific Northwest . . .”
where she lives the white stuff is merely
another part of winter
not a cause for hysteria
pantries are kept stocked with toilet paper
four-wheel is standard
folks grab their shovels
to get on with their lives
and when neighbors bring blowers and tractors
she hands them a Scotch to stay warm
the next day it was all but gone
the snowpocalypse that wasn’t
the blizzard which, it turned out, was simply snow falling
angels disappeared into muddy slush
snow people washed into the storm drains
roads cleared and cars got back to running
my dog returned to hating the rain
and growling at the postman
I have to admit I look forward
to the next "punishing," "plastering," "bracing" event
to the hoopla and exaggeration it will bring
to the idiots sure they alone will make it up the hill
to warmed bourbon in a mug
to the reminder of the importance play and do-nothing pause
and to watching nature pull that blanket up to her chin again
with the invitation that we do the same
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