Having grown up in the Southwest where there was no such thing, I love snow. It's probably simply because of the fact that I never saw it, had to live in it, drive in it, or put up with it for four to six months of the year that I feel so strongly about it. Growing up, when I talked to my relatives in Idaho and mentioned that fact that I find winter the most beautiful time of the year, they would all roll their eyes and sigh, "Oh... that's because you've never had to live in it. If you lived here in the winter, you'd learn. Summer is where it's at. You guys in Arizona are lucky - you get, like nine, ten months of summer." And then I'd roll my eyes and say, "Oh... that's because you've never lived in Arizona in August or seen the thermometer climb to 124 degrees. If you lived here, you'd learn." I guess perspective is all in what you get used to.

Washington has one of the best climates I've ever lived in. You get all four seasons. You get a nice fall, and taste of snow, some beautiful spring days and a few good beach outing days in the summer. Oh sure it gets miserably muggy during certain parts of the year, but my theory about the weather in Washington is if you don't like the weather, just wait awhile, it'll change. And it always does... sometimes within the next twelve to fourteen hour period. We get enough snow here to have the experience in winter, make a snowman or two, get a couple of days off work, but generally it doesn't stay around long. It's the best of both worlds. The only time I remember snow being a real problem in the ten years I've lived here was during the blizzard of '96 when Mayor Barry's brilliant snow removal plan was: Spring.

The Dormouse is really into the snow this year. Really. When it snowed a half inch last Sunday, she ran circles in the living room, screaming at the top of her lungs, "I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" I tried to take her and some neighbor kids outside to make a snowman that afternoon, but the snow was too dry to pack and the only way I could even make a snowball was by scraping the wet snow off the still warm hood of our car. Once that goldmine was gone, I was out of ideas and we just resorted to throwing snow at the kitchen window to entice my husband to come out and play.

By the next morning, the little bit of snow on the ground had turned to ice and was not suitable for snowman construction either. This disappointed The Dormouse to no end. KingofHearts tried to make it all better by saying, "I'll snow again later and we'll make a snowman then." Which The Dormouse took to mean, "I will make it snow again on demand and if I don't it will just be because I am mean and not because I can't control the weather."

She woke up the next morning at three am asking to make a snowman. Then again at five. Then again at six. Then when we got ready for class day and work, she couldn't understand why she had been promised snow and no one was following through on that promise.

Exercise in futility #331: Trying to explain to a three year old why you can't predict the weather.

"I want to build a snowman."
"I'm sorry honey, but the snow all melted."
"But Daddy said I could build a snowman on Thursday!"
"I'm sorry honey, but Daddy can't predict the weather."
"Whyyyyyyy?"
"Because one general truth about the world we live in is you can't predict the weather and... oh never mind. Daddy's just mean."

So last night when we got a few flurries, I maximized the opportunity and we immediately went outside. There still wasn't enough for a snowman, but we did get to catch snowflakes on our tongues and 'take a walk in the snow'. Good thing too, because fifteen minutes later, it had stopped and all the snow on the ground had pretty much melted off. I managed to quell the addiction for a little while though and that's worth several non-whining moments that I'll appreciate later. And I learned that when you forget to turn your flash off while taking pictures in a snowstorm, you get some pretty nifty effects.