| November | December 2005 Volume 79 Issue 6 |
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My Colorado Snow Days
Because I was a teenager, my first responsibility was to make friends. One likely suspect lived next door, a Denver native my age. As we struck up an acquaintance, weather took a high priority in our discussions, for we had few common interests. Sitting on my front porch, Gina described the phenomenon of “snow days,” when school was cancelled because of the weather. This happened rarely, she assured me. Despite Colorado 's national reputation as a snow state, Denver 's winters were mild and its snowfalls usually only several inches. The night before Labor Day, I went to sleep with temperatures in the seventies. I woke the next morning to at least a foot of snow. When I accused Gina of fibbing, she indignantly insisted this blizzard was an oddity. The snow melted immediately, the school year went by, and I was lulled into complacency about weather. Until the Memorial Day holiday. Again I fell asleep in clement conditions and rose to a world pillowed in white drifts. I reviewed the year with horror. If major storms occurred as early as August and as late as Memorial Day, how could I ever plan—what to wear, when to plant flowers, where to go? I couldn't, I learned as years passed. One Christmas was positively tropical and our family played touch football outside. Another Christmas, in 1982, snow was so deep that no traffic moved. Each startling change in weather brought neighbors together, provided instant camaraderie with strangers, or revealed a facet in the world unnoticed before. I learned to relax and treasure the wild fluctuations of Colorado 's climate like the charming variability of an eccentric friend. I learned nature's power continues to outstrip humanity's. Plans can be undone, and spontaneous pleasures arise instead.
Do you have a special memory or humorous story about living in Colorado? EnCompass is looking for original essays that capture the uniqueness of our state. Payment is $60 upon publication. Entries must be typed, double-spaced and 200–300 words. Please include a daytime phone number. Entries will not be returned. Mail to: EnCompass, Attn: My Colorado, 4100 E. Arkansas Ave., Denver, CO 80222, or email: editor@colorado.aaa.com. A response to a submission may take six to eight weeks.
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