SNOW!!!

I am a California girl born and raised for over 22 years, and proud of it! California is an ideal location for many because they can drive an hour to visit the snow, on a clear and sunny day, and not have to deal with hassles of living in it. Snow is a novelty to me, and I was ecstatic to say the least when it started snowing on Saturday. All the locals were complaining about how they barely had a Fall, and how this first snow came way too early. I couldn’t possibly fathom why people would complain about this fluttery perfection that blankets everything in the purest white. My idealistic view of snow overshadowed any potential drawbacks. To say that Mother Nature taught me a lesson this weekend would be an understatement. Mother Nature unleashed her full on fury and gave an icy reminder of just how powerful she can be, not caring it was still October.

Living a mere ½ mile from West Point Military Academy means we are now Army football fans!! I had to let my Dad, a Navy man, down gently about this one. For my birthday Glenn surprised me with amazing seats to the Army vs. Fordham matchup. Snow + Football = The perfect day!! I wasn’t naïve enough to think that sitting outside for hours in below freezing temperatures wasn’t going to be cold. I had on three layers!!! I was wearing wool socks, leggings, jeans, thermal long sleeve top, coat, scarf, gloves, hat with ear flaps, and boots. And Glenn, ever the gentleman, gave me his knee length goose down coat to wear on top of all that. I looked like a walking marshmallow. I even made lasagna soup right before we left so we can have steaming hot soup from a thermos to keep us warm during the game. So off Glenn and I went to walk the mile and a half in blizzard like conditions to the stadium. We walk into the sold out stadium and the stands are basically empty. Not a good enough sign for me that locals don’t want to be out in this weather. Between each play ground crews were shoveling out yard lines so the players could tell where they were on the field. The weather conditions didn’t affect Army’s game play though. The players took advantage of the conditions and slid across the snow for extra yards and a 28-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. I was actually feeling bad for Fordham and hoped they would catch the ball at least once. At the start of the second quarter Glenn was pretty sure he was in early stages of hypothermia he was shaking so bad, and we took cover under the overhead and ate some soup. The weather beat us out and at half time we called it quits. Considering the Cadets had bailed from their seats, the band left early, and an announcement was made saying that anyone who wanted to reach their cars needed to leave the game immediately because roads were already closed and closing, we didn’t feel too wimpy for bailing.

Thanks to my extremely warm jacket I was pretty ok, with the exception of not being able to move my toes or fingers. Note to self, just because boots are fuzzy, and pink knit gloves are cute, doesn’t mean they are waterproof. We had just enough time to take a warm shower, and not ten minutes afterwards the power went out, and stayed out for the next 26.5 hours. I love that my husband went straight into survival mode. Sunday morning came, still no power, and I had very frizzy out of control morning hair. Glenn strung an extension cord from the bathroom to the car and used a power inverter so that I was able to straighten my hair for church, My HERO! I am also grateful to the kindness of West Point branch. There was no way we were allowed to go back home with no power. Thank you to the Sparrows and the McVays for making sure these Californians were cared for! All in all it was a memorable weekend, and I’m honestly looking forward to the next snow. This time I will be prepared with proper footwear.  

All SMILES!!

Keeping our drinks cold, just an idea of how much snow.

Half time! Just a few hundred remaining.