I Was Thinking... White
Sometime in my educational process, either a science or art teacher discussed the color white. They told me white light is a combination of all colors in the color spectrum. It has all the colors of the rainbow. In this model of color theory, the combination of all colors creates the perception of white So, when I look outside today, in theory I’m seeing all the colors of the rainbow, but to me it is just white. White covering the ground, white on the road, and white on all the rooftops. Again, mother nature has played one of her cruel tricks on us.
Just a week ago, I could hear the spring song of several birds, the snowbanks had gradually sunk and there were several areas in my front yard that brown grass was showing through. It was the middle of February, and we knew the worst of winter was probably behind us. Or at least we hoped so. But being a Minnesotan, we know we should never be seduced by the hope of an early spring because just when you start to make plans for your summer garden, winter returns with a vengeance. It happened again last week.
It is still hard to believe on Monday I was sweeping the salt and sand out of my garage with the door wide open. The sky was clear, the sun was out and both sides of my driveway had grass showing after the piles of snow had started their withdrawal. But then came the weatherman and his premonition of a winter blast not equaled since the one that collapsed the Metro Dome. The first inclination was to ignore his forecast since some of his previous prognostications had proved to be off the mark. But one meteorologist after another sang the same tune and this time, they even said all the “models” were lining up. Okay, it is still February, and we will probably get more snow before the daffodils bloom, but 18 to 20 inches, really?
But as true Minnesotans, we know that anything is possible. Remember the 15” of snow we got in early May about ten years ago. Despite our desire to dismiss this as another “weatherman crying wolf,” we went into storm mode. Several days before the predicted storm, we made sure we had enough milk, bread, eggs (despite the cost), peanut butter, pizza and ice cream. We filled up the tanks of our cars and trucks and checked to see if we had enough gas for the snowblower. Schools and churches checked their schedules and kept the TV and radio stations that report cancellations on speed dial. Then we waited.
Newscasters now didn’t have to dig out any prime stories to report, they had one handed to them, “The Storm.” Midwesterners are eager consumers of anything weather related. We worry about too much rain, not enough rain, frost warnings, freeze warnings, and complain about humidity or sunburn. Give us an impending winter storm, and we’ll have enough to talk about for days.
The radio, TV, and even social media were all about “The Storm.” People were interviewed to see if they were ready, snowplow drivers were featured as they prepared, and warnings were issued about possible road closings. In true Minnesota fashion, we seemed to relish the opportunity to again do battle with the worst that mother nature could dish out.
But this time the forecast was pretty close to accurate. We got the first wave of 4 to 7 inches, got time to clean that out, and sat back and waited for phase two. It came as predicted but not quite to the level that was anticipated. But still it probably all totaled over a foot and the old crusty, dirty, sand covered snow of the first part of winter was now covered by a clean blanket of pure white. But we know how to handle it, so we dug out and put our plans for our garden back in the drawer for a while longer.
Did You Ever Wonder? — When does it stop being partly cloudy and starts being partly sunny?
Photo: I was thinking Ron Albright