Snow......

I have seen a lot more of this country in the last few days. Schools attended by friends, homes lived in during childhood, places I have only read about online or in books. I have eaten wonderful meals and hopefully, walked them off, too!

Seeing things up close and personal is always better than reading about them or seeing them on television or in a movie. So many things are just better when they are experienced in person. And one of those things is snow.

Now, mind you, I have never been fond of snow. At least, not in person. And now I have figured out why: it's too cold. And I have never had the right clothes or shoes to wear, either. This time, though, I was ready: I have my turtlenecks, my sweaters, my jacket, and my UGGS! And a cap and mittens, too.

Friday night, after a wonderful meal at Harry Caray's in Chicago, we decided to walk back to the hotel. Well, not completely true: we were one quarter shy of the needed toll for the CTA. I was so stuffed from eating dinner that I suggested that we walk, instead. And so, we did.

It was snowing, very lightly, when we took the "el" to the restaurant. After eating, there was a little dusting on the ground, and more falling as we walked. The snow was fairly dry, and melted on contact. It was cold, momentarily, as it landed on my cheeks.

Chicago was like a fairyland: lit up with lights in trees, around windows, and in the sky. We walked across a bridge on the Chicago River and looked at all the lights reflected in the icy water. It was truly magical. I took tons of pictures but, I don't have the cord for the camera, to transfer the pictures to the laptop. I'll have to do that when I get home.

There has been snow since Friday, every place I have gone. Today, I drove in it. It was not nearly as magical as it had been on Friday night: it was more like a flurry and it was falling fast and furious as I rolled west on I-80, behind a truck. The windshield wipers were criss-crossing the windshield fast and furiously, and still unable to keep up with the snow.

Having traveled west since Friday, the weather is much warmer, in the twenties and thirties. Snow is piled in drifts every time I stop for gas. At least, it was in Iowa, and a little bit in Nebraska and Colorado. Now, tonight, in Denver, there is ice on the ground, but no snow.

In Iowa and Nebraska, empty corn fields are blanketed in snow. In Wisconsin, drifts of snow still dot parking lots. Many people still have their Christmas decorations up: they won't bring them down until it is warmer, in April or May.

It is amazing, to me, to see the differences in the way winter happens in different places. Occasionally, the temperature will dip below freezing back home in Podunk, but not regularly. And we have fog sometimes, but not the diminished visibility of a snow flurry.

It's almost nine o'clock at night, here, and my feet are finally warm again. Maybe snow is better enjoyed on television or in movies, after all.