Adventures in the Snow

We've been living in Mississippi since August 2010. The climate when we arrived was hotter than in San Antonio, TX, with many days over 100 degrees and humidity in the 90s. The winter climate has proved to be much colder than in San Antonio, and last Sunday we had snow - significant amounts of snow. The snow was anticipated all day, but didn't start falling out of the sky until 6 p.m. When it came, it fell fast and furious, with big flakes floating down and blanketing everything in sight. Grown-ups and kids alike headed out into the streets to experience the rare event. My daughter Emily was especailly excited, and she came in covered with snow and ice pellets, and even had a beautiful snow hairbow.

Temperatures were in the low 30's so no one knew how long the snow would stick around. The next morning I snapped some shots of the house and yard before the kids got up and started playing in it.


Snow is an infrequent enough visitor here that there are no snow ploughs or other means of dealing with accumulations. As a result, the schools and businesses closed for a day or two, and all the neighborhood kids were out playing and creating with the white stuff.



Besides the traditional snowmen, one group of kids built a snowhouse, complete with a table, chairs, and beds. Of course there were snowball fights. The young boys across the street got serious about their snowballs, teaming up to make sleds-full of then, and unloading them on some older boys. The moms had a fun time standing around chatting while the kids played. Even Will enjoyed getting out in the snow and hanging out with his friend Lauren.

With temperatures just above freezing, the snow melted slowly throughout the day, but still there was plenty for Erin & Hannah to make a snowman in the back yard and snow angels in the side yard.

We had so much snow that even with it melting all day and all night, the ground was still covered the next morning, although it seemed more like packed ice than powdery snow.

Nearly one week later, thanks to another cold snap, we still have some patches of snow on the ground. Most of the white stuff is gone, but the armies of snowmen in the neighborhood are stubbornly hanging on, although they look a little less stout each day. Hopefully our memories will last longer.