Parasnowia

When we first moved back to middle Tennessee, we bought a house in Gallatin. Its a small town about 30 miles northeast of Nashville. Our subdivision was built on what used to be a cattle pasture. Flat as a pancake. In our 7 years there, we had plenty of snowy days. But with flat streets, sledding was pretty much out of the question unless ol' dad here was the mule.

About 6 years ago, we moved to our current house. Unlike Gallatin, this place is on a bit of a hill. Anticipating sledding conditions would be better with the hills, I put a good word into Santa to see if he could bring a sled for their first Christmas in the new digs.

He did - but then an odd thing happened. We've had no measureable snow here in six years. Flurries yes. Bitterly cold temps sure. But a good base of ice followed by a few inches of snow to really rip off a good sled run? Negative.

Because of either pent-up demand for snow, the dread of it actually falling, Nashville-area drivers freaking out over the prospects of driving in it, etc., this area suffers from what I now call a bad case of "parasnowia".

Last weekend, the weathermen were all giddy with their forecast models. We were going to get 4-6" of snow from Wednesday night through Thursday. By Tuesday, the forecast was down to 1-3". By Wednesday, they backed down and said we might get an inch beginning Thursday morning. And when I awoke to dry streets and grassy lawns, the forecast was for only a dusting.

But that didn't keep parasnowia from setting in. Schools closed even before the first flake fell. Our office closed early Thursday afternoon - the first time I can recall that happening in 13 years of employment there. Folks who apparently live life on the edge with empty pantries and refrigerators jammed Wal-Mart and the grocery stores to load-up on the essentials as if they wouldn't see the light of day again until March 1.

Even my kids (as all kids should I guess) are still gullible to get caught up in the hype. Merely the chance of snow is enough to get them keyed up and ready to sled. Unfortunately, as illustrated below, the physics of friction between asphalt and steel runners are too much to overcome without plenty of frozen precipitation between them.

Better luck next time.

TMC