These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

days to come

monday we had our first snowfall of significance. we must have received about four to six inches.
it's the first early snowfall for me since we moved up here. previously, the earliest significant snowfall was around thanksgiving.

monday i put my boots on for the first time in six months or so. i donned a cap and gloves and trudged through the snow-filled sidewalks. i took my first step and the rest was easy. it's like getting on a bike for the first time after years of being away from one.

one my trip back from lunch in the late afternoon, a beautiful thing happened. i noticed the sun was making an attempt to come out between clouds. as i approached the office, it finally came out. a huge ray of sunlight spread over the back of the sentinel building and beyond to the east. it was almost blinding since minutes before it was overcast.

last night i walked in relative ease. as mentioned before i'm amazed at the amount of light that is reflected off of snow, even at night. it makes for a walk that appears to be done in the early morning hours. ice is the only terror for me. one slip and it's over.

and for those crazy drivers. gee, it seems like every year as the first major snowfall hits us, people seem to forget how treacherous it can be. people are speeding along like a sunny spring day. it never fails. the scanner is blaring with rollovers and cars in ditches and crashes. every year it's the same thing