Snow and the Southerner

We had some snow a while back. Pretty much most of the country got snow, so it's not that surprising that we here in the south got snow, too.  Of course, not the snow like they got up north, (41 inches? Really?) but we did get our share. About 10 inches this last time, but as much as 14 in some spots. Growing up in Colorado, I had more than my fair share of snow, let me tell you! In fact, those snow levels are one of the reasons I stay here in the South. We get snow about a handful of days a year.  Compared to Colorado, it's practically tropical.

Snowfall in the South is much different than in Colorado, and it's important to know the difference.  In Colorado, for the most part, they get this beautiful white powdery snow that is so light and, more importantly, DRY that you quite literally cannot pack it into a snow ball.  Here in the South, the snow is not dry. It's wetter than a catfish smoothie!  (I have no idea what that means, but it jumped out onto the keyboard and I'm not about to change it.) 

What this means in effect is that the snow is heavy, and packs easily.  I went out into the snow, wearing my snow boots to feed the cat that lives in our shed.  In only a few minutes the packed snow in those footprints had turned to ice! (Picture above shows the difference a few minutes makes!)

Which also proved to me that I had to shovel the walk.  If that snow turned to ice, it would take twice as long to melt. So, out I went, shovel in hand, and cleared the front walk.

 

And the driveway, creating a walk end to end. 

 

Then, I cleared an odd path through the back patio...

 

So that I could feed the cat who lives out in the shed.  

Which also means I cleaned off the stepping stones 

and 'porch' in front of the shed, too.  

 

Then I collapsed.  

The light snow in Colorado is nothing compared to the heavy snow here. All that moisture makes it feel like lead.  But in this way, once cleared these areas will dry once the sun hits them, giving me a surefooted path through the southern snow, after my nap.