Snow Day

We have snow! Those of you who aren't from Texas may not understand the rarity of snow in our area. With Christmas temperatures as high as the 70-degree range, it simply doesn't snow much in Texas. Growing up in southeast Texas, I remember having snow somewhere around 1977, 1982, 1986, and 1994. It was never very much. It didn't even stick in '86 and '94. We certainly never built snowmen or had snowball fights. The only "snow angels" we made were of cotton. Snow in Texas is a rare treat, and Sheridan had complained more than once that she'd never seen real snow.

The weathermen had predicted the possibility of snow on Christmas Eve for about a week but I didn't pay much attention. I looked outside my window and saw a few white flakes falling. I called Sherian to come see and she ran outside in her pajamas. About that time it really started coming down. I could hear the next door neighbor girls running out into their back yard and squealing with delight, "It's snowing! It's snowing!" The snow was melting as soon as it hit the grass so Sheridan put out a large bowl to collect it. Pockets of snow accumulated on the rooftops and in the branches of trees, and it seemed as if Jack Frost himself had come through our neighborhood. By the next morning the snow would disappear, leaving behind a bowl of snow in the freezer, a few pictures, and a child's memories of her first snow.