It's Coming...

Winter in New England - George Henry Durrie
(Source)

So, I see in the news that it snowed in Texas, southern Texas. Now I've seen snow in Amarillo, a lot of snow. I drove through there back in January of '87 on my way to San Antonio and the snow was pretty deep as I recall. (And that's part of a larger story that I really need to tell someday. Not a period I like to recall, sort of a detour in my Air Force career path. Not a mistake, no sir. Just a wrong turn on my path.)

I also see from friends' posts on koobecaF that it snowed in North Carolina. The news says that snow hit a lot of the deep south. Rare down in those parts, I can't imagine that the folks down there are used to dealing with the white stuff.

Usually getting the roads cleared down yonder is difficult. I mean in southern Texas, the deep south, Georgia, I doubt they spend a lot of money on snow removal equipment.

Up here in the Northeast (and other parts of the northern U. S.) we're used to the frozen precipitation. Not all of us are in love with the stuff, some of us are. I like to see it the first time, it brightens up the landscape.

I always associate snow in December with the coming of Christmas. As a kid, I don't recall any Christmases that weren't white. Of course, some folks' definition of what constitutes a white Christmas varies from other folks.

Some say just having snow on the ground is enough. I'm one of those, but mind you, it has to be totally snow covered, no bare patches. If there's snow on the pine trees that's a bonus, not a requirement though.

Some folks say it's a white Christmas if it snows Christmas Day. Well, I'll be the first to admit that that makes for a pretty special Christmas if you only have to sit at home and not go out.

I remember one Christmas probably not too long before I went into the Air Force. There was a lot of snow on the ground and Christmas Eve we received more, not a lot, maybe six inches or so. But it was enough to keep my maternal grandmother at home, she wasn't going to attempt the drive from her farm over to Mom and Dad's place.

But Dad felt that it would be terrible if we were to leave Gram alone on Christmas. Fortunately, both The Olde Vermonter and I drove VW Beetles. In fact, his was a classic older model, "made from real steel" he liked to say. All I remember is that his Beetle was a lot more robust than mine, which was probably at least ten years newer. At any rate, my Dad, The Olde Vermonter, and I all piled into The Olde Vermonter Mobile and headed out to collect Gram.

Now the old Beetles were really good in snow. I've driven from the old home town all the way up to Newport, Vermont in a blizzard, then back again with nary a problem. They're lightweight and having the engine in the back, over the drive wheels, gave it plenty of traction. We were sailing along just fine until we got to the hill heading up towards Gram's farm.

Wasn't a long hill, maybe 50 yards or so, but the road had seen traffic which had packed the snow down and hadn't been treated or plowed yet. (It takes a while to get to all the back roads and such in Vermont and New Hampshire.) The Beetle just couldn't get enough purchase on the packed snow to get up the hill.

As there was no shoulder to speak of, the old expedient of driving over on the softer shoulder wasn't available. Then Dad had an idea, an idea for which Mom probably would have killed him dead right on the spot if she knew about it.

As he was the most experienced driver, especially in New England winter conditions, he would man the wheel. The Olde Vermonter and I would stand on the bumper and kinda bounce up and down.

Say what?

1963 Volkswagen Beetle
(Source)

You see, we'd stand on that back bumper you can see above. If you look above the side windows, there's a strip of metal running along the side ending just at the top corners of the engine cover. We could hang on to that as Dad attempted the hill.

With some trepidation my brother and I got out of the car and climbed aboard that bumper and gripped where we could get purchase. Dad had his window down and yelled out, "Start bouncing boys!"

So we did. Gently at first, then we got into it as we realized that the car was slowly going up the hill. Our bouncing got the tires to dig down into the packed snow and create enough traction to advance a bit with each bounce.

We made it up, took a few minutes but we did it. My brother and I got back inside the car and off we went to get Gram. It was a fine Christmas and by the end of the day the roads were clear enough so that Dad didn't need us to ride the bumper to get Gram back home.

I will always remember that. My brother and I clinging to the back of his car, bouncing up and down and laughing like complete loons. I recall being very grateful that we were out in the boondocks with no one around to witness our antics.

Of course, the folks over in New Hampshire (where Gram lived) always thought we Vermonters were lunatics anyway, no sense giving them proof! Heck, nowadays Dad would probably be locked up for child abuse or some such nonsense.

So will it snow today?

We shall see.

Will we have a white Christmas this year?

We shall see.

Any Christmas spent with loved ones is good enough for me, snow or no snow. But still, it would be kinda neat to have snow for Christmas.

And mistletoe*.




* From I'll Be Home for Christmas -
I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree