By John Toth
The Bulletin
I was out like most other Texans along the Texas Gulf Coast folks on that wonderful morning when it snowed on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
I was taking pictures and videos as the snow covered roofs, cars and lawns. It was a beautiful winter scene that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially since The Bulletin was distributed early in anticipation of the snow and ice. Most importantly, I enjoyed it because we still had power.
That’s important. When we got hit with an arctic front in 2021, things didn’t turn out that well. I had a dozen pipes burst in my house, and it briefly rained from the ceiling until I was able to turn off the main water line to the house.
This time was different. We had a great time as the snow accumulated. I could have built a snowman, but decided not to.
The last time a snowman adorned our front lawn was on Christmas Eve 2004, when our kids were still little. They went to work on a pretty good-sized one, and it lived for about a day before temperatures rose back above freezing again.
It would not have felt the same to build one this time, with just the two of us. Plus, although I like seeing snow, I don’t really want to put out all that effort to gather it up and shape it into a snowman.
All went well until the roof of a neighbors’ house caught on fire while they were using their fireplace. Fire trucks crowded our street, and smoke filled the air.
The nice thing about this snowfall was that the snow hung around overnight and the better part of the next day, when temperatures rose above freezing, and it started to melt.
That was just about as much snow as I wanted to see.
My problem with snow is that it only snows when it’s freezing or below freezing. I live along the Gulf Coast so that I could have maybe three days of winter and then return to “almost summer.” I know a lot of you disagree with me and may have opened your windows on that snowy Tuesday night to let the freezing temperatures into the house as you covered yourselves with a half dozen blankets. I cranked the heat up to 74 degrees and covered up with a couple of blankets.
The last two times when it got really cold, we were on research missions to the Western Caribbean. This time, Mother Nature and Lady Luck would not cooperate. In a way, I’m glad, because we witnessed a wonderful event along the coast that happens very rarely. And, in a day or so, it was all over.
Two weeks after the big snow, we were sitting in daytime temperatures in the 80s. That’s more to my liking. I like to wake up and not be cold going to the bathroom. I like it when I open the faucet, and there isn’t any ice-cold water spewing out of it for minutes before it warms up.
In 2011, Sharon and I decided to take a business trip to Colorado in September to see if we could do some stories from a place that I really like to visit.
It was a pleasant, early fall day as we started to drive up Pikes Peak. About halfway up, I noticed signs that on top of the peak it was not as sunny and pleasant as at the bottom.
As we reached the top, we drove into a snow blizzard. My feet sank into the snow, ankle deep or higher.
Good thing I learned from previous visits there that we needed to bundle up, no matter what the temperature was at the bottom.
It was a grand wintery scene. The souvenir and coffee shop were packed with tourists. Sharon and I ventured outside to take pictures and experience winter in September, then hurried back to the coffee shop to warm up.
Two hours up there was the perfect winter experience. Then we drove down (without burning up the brakes on our rented car) , back to warmth and a swim in the heated pool at the inn where we stayed.
That’s how I like my winters.
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