Snowed In

Back in 2003, as I was waving goodbye to the Kansas and Oklahoma borders and saying a big hello to the state of Texas, I never thought I would miss my good ol' home state. This week, reminded me of the fondness I have for dear old Kansas.

On Tuesday, Texas experienced a true "Arctic Blast" (a phrase used a least once a year here to describe a few snowflakes falling). This year was different than years past, as Texas got more than it bargained for. Starting early Tuesday morning freezing rain and then sleet, along with frigid temps began beating on homes, businesses, and streets across the state and before you knew it, the great DFW metroplex was shut down. And I mean literally shut down. People didn't, and really couldn't leave their homes. By the end of Tuesday, at least in our neighborhood, we had about one and a half inches of ice everywhere.

Now it is a known fact that Texans have absolutely no clue what to do with true winter weather. This Kansas girl often laughs and becomes cynical of people whining about the annual snow apocalypse. But I have to say, this time around, it was really bad. So bad, schools around the metroplex were canceled for four days! My husband even stayed home those four days because there was no way he could drive the car on the streets, even with our four wheel drive. Apparently DFW has not seen the value in investing in salt trucks...

But today, day four of being stuck and frozen, beauty was brought in. Snow started falling early this morning and by 7 am the ground was blanketed in white. Cars were still not moving on the streets, but the temps had risen to a balmy 18 degrees. As I let our dachshund outside, I smiled, seeing the little birds hoping from branch to branch behind our house, tweeting a sweet song to welcome the day. My heart swelled and I thought of Kansas. This kind of weather is a pretty common occurrence in the Heartland, but I don't think I appreciated the beauty of it until I moved to Texas and had been so far away from it.



Now I won't lie, it's been a challenge to keep my two year old cooped up inside this house the past week. I thought I was about to go crazy if I couldn't get him outside and burn off some energy. But God smiled and blessed us with warmer temperatures, some sunshine and a lot of fun snow to roll around in....and by us, I mean my two year old and his 8 month pregnant mommy. That's right, 34 weeks pregnant and I made a snow angel right along with my son. Here's to you, Kansas. I miss you and your four seasons.