Snow Day? Not.

We awoke this morning to snow, both on the ground and falling from the sky. As a child when this occurred, I remember overwhelming feelings of joy and excitement. You see, it didn't snow often in Western Oregon, and when it did, the City of Portland essentially shut down. Everything was cancelled, including and most importantly, school! Snow days were few and far between because of the lovely mild climate, but when the snow did arrive, we kids could pretty much count on a snow day.

This is not the case in Montana.

I remember so clearly five years ago our first fall/winter here in Billings. We were living in a dorm room, waiting not-so-patiently for our house in Washington to sell. The first day we had snow, Isaiah and Eli woke up overjoyed. "No school!" they exclaimed. Their delight was quickly stifled when I explained that here in Montana, kids still go to school when it snows. "What?" they replied simultaneously. They were positively astonished by the fact that they would need to go to school when there was snow on the ground.

That was long enough ago that they no longer expect snow days. Both Isaiah and Eli have learned to drive in the snow. It doesn't bother them. And Seth is neither delighted nor disappointed by snowfall. It's merely another type of weather, nothing special.

I, on the other hand, am a true Western Washingtonian. Five years has done nothing to convert me. I like snow just fine, so long as I don't have to go outside, be cold, or worry about driving on slick roads. Alas, in Montana, I have to do all those things. My first winter here, I called my mother one morning as I was driving (about 10 miles per hour) to school on slick, snow-covered roads, and the temperature in my van read -18 degrees. The following day I received an overnight package: two down-filled heavy winter coats, one in black and one in brown. Yes, I still need to be fashionable even in ridiculously cold weather. I still wear both those coats today; in fact, I wore the black one this very morning.

Am I excited to see the start of the snowy season? No. Am I trying to retain a positive attitude? Yes. Am I succeeding? Not completely. I'm attempting to look for what is good, however. Let's see...It means the holidays are getting closer when I'll have all five kids home. Okay, that's reason enough to celebrate the change in weather.

Still, the child in me yearns for the magic of the past, the ever more elusive but all the more desirable SNOW DAY.