Yesterday was the first snow day of the year in Greensboro, NC.
Snow days in the south are particularly dangerous. The slick terrain is unfamiliar to most drivers.
Also, our infrastructure isn’t equipped to immediately clear the roads. We have salt trucks, but they aren’t always staffed or available.
There is an often inaccurate exageration regarding southern folks and snow. Legend has it that at the first sign of flakes, we run to the grocery store and buy out the milk, eggs, and bread. Not true. I was at the grocery store during the first of the storm and there was plenty of all of the above. Although, yesterday, the store was out of garlic. I can’t quite figure that one out.
I grew up in the deep south. The first time I remember seeing snow was in 1981. My family had taken a Christmas vacation trip to see some relatives in Iowa. The day after Christmas, it was 0 degrees out and there was easily a foot of snow on the ground. We made snowmen and went up and down a hill on sleds for most of the day. That was real snow.
Snow in Greensboro is usually a dusting at best. Every now and then, there’s a good footer. It does get dangerous when the temp dwells along the freezing point. Melting during the day and freezing at night makes for black ice. One never fails to see a roadside peel out on a snow day.
It was fortuitous to do my grocery shopping for the week on a snow day—two and a half dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, and a gallon of milk for me. The legend continues, I guess. I buy the same groceries regardless of the weather. I guess we see what we want to.
