snow that stays

The current snow is going to be here for a while. I looked at the 10 day forecast and daytime temperatures don't get out of the 30's until Valentine's day and all the lows are 22 or below.

I remember other snows that stayed around.

Three or four years ago there were 14 storms, most of them on weekends, and the snow piled up around our driveway was over my head. And that all did havoc to church attendance, though I made it every week. Once we had 5 for the 8 am Eucharist and 21 for the 10:15 service and only a handful for the Hispanic Mass at noon--most of those people were not used to negotiating snow in any way.

Then back in the winter of 71-72, when Bern and I were newly married and living in Cambridge, MA, it started snowing in late November and didn't stop until late February. The temperature at all times was below freezing for most all that time. That's the winter I lost my wedding ring and a "Hungarian Sheep dog" found it in the snow and brought it to me in her teeth. So I decided we needed on of those dogs. Unfortunately, there are two breeds known as "Hungarian Sheep Dogs". The one who found my ring was a Commadore. The one we ended up with was a Puli. Commadores are white, weight over 80 pounds and silent. Pulis are black as midnight, about 50 pounds and bark for a living. We're on our second Puli now. They are stubborn, independent, beyond training and astonishingly loyal. we've loved them both. Finney, the first one, when we were young and had young children, was my favorite. Bela, our current Puli is loved by Bern more than any creature we've ever lived with--and there have been dozens. I can forgive him his faults because it makes my heart swell to see how much Bern loves him.

Then there was the snow in Charleston WV in the early 80's of the last century when our street, Hazelwood Avenue, was impassable for about a week. That's when our first Puli was alive. I let him out the front door after 12 hours of snowing and the snow was up even with our front porch, which had five steps up to it. He ran off the porch and disappeared into the snow. I had to go dig him out.

That happened to Bela on Wednesday morning this week after the big snow. He ran off the steps to our deck and couldn't get back. I literally took a shovel and dug him out so he could get up the steps.

Those are the snows that hung around that I remember most. But having lived all my life in places where it snows a lot (except for two years in Alexandria, VA where one year there wasn't even a killing frost) I'm sure there are more awful 'staying snows' I don't remember. One of the things about being me is this: I have a remarkable capacity to forget bad things.

I don't even ponder that capacity...I just give thanks for it.....