Snow ! and we close the country (The Weather!)

Member Name: Surfbabe13

Product:	The Weather!
Date:	02/02/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bright Glistening, Crunchy

Disadvantages: Cold, brings the country to a stnadstill

Well we have snow - not a lot - maybe 4 inches but you would think the end of the world had arrived!

Last weekend the shops were running out of milk, bread and all sorts of other goods because...................... we were expecting snow! and yes - we have snow and all the schools are closed, traffic is at a standstill and the emergency services are stretched to breaking point.

Is there anything good about snow? Well you can make a snowman or two, you can sledge, have snowball fights and admire the fresh newness of the day. You can also get stuck in a snow drift - well in Scotland maybe, - fall over and break a leg, although that tends to be on ice not snow.

The thing is in England we are just not used to snow. I don't include Scotland or Wales as they are far more used to snow than us Englanders. (sorry - I don't know about the snow situation in Northern Ireland, so haven't included you for that reason.)

I'm not at work today because of the snow - the village that I work in is off the main roads and which ever direction you approach it from there is a big hill up and down until you reach it. The council don't grit these roads so unless you have a 4x4 you stand no chance of getting in or out. The main road is slushy at the moment but as the temperature drops it will freeze into an ice rink, so the chances are I will be at home tomorrow as well.

I actually work in a school - so yes - you've guessed - the school is closed as only 3 staff actually live in the village that the school is in. Just about every school in the county is closed for the same reason. My daughters school - a comprehensive - can be seen from our house, but is closed because a) most of the staff live outside the area and b) most of the children do as well and the bus companies won't run the buses!

Now this also happens where my sister lives - for the record its outside Washington DC in the USA. But they are used to dealing with snow, in fact last week they had 2 foot fall overnight. The schools just started two hours later the following day - although having said that the roads had all been cleared by snow ploughs by then, including the cul-de-sacs and minor roads. No chance of that happening here!!

Why do we let it frighten us so much - is it the un-predictability of it, the thought that we might starve to death if we don't stock the cupboard to overflowing because we can;t get to the shops for a few days.?

I can remember the snow from my childhood but I can't remember the country coming to a standstill. Maybe its because I lived in a town until I was 10 so the buses and trains did still run, people lived locally to where they worked so shops and schools could open and did stay open.

Now we all live away from our work and families and the local shops have been replaced with charity shops, so when the weather closes in it is harder to get to work as everyone is frightened of the coniditons.

We shiver and stay inside when the temperature is at -1, instead we should wrap up warmly and go for a walk.

Walking in the snow is wonderful, the crisp footprints behind you glinting in the sunlight. Its a good way to keep fit as its hard walking through snow!

So what ever you're weather today - whether its a centimetre or a metre of snow - enjoy it. It doesn't happen very often and provided you treat the conditions sensibly it can be enjoyed!

Summary: The white stuff that can cause chaos