Poor Mother Nature. She is seriously confused. “Is it winter or summer? Do I sprinkle with snow or break out the sun?” She can’t seem to make up her mind. Or maybe she just likes playing with our heads. Either way, it’s working.
We’ve swung from lows in the 20s to highs in the 70s and back again all in a few shorts days. Even with our unpredictable Texas weather this has been an absurdly crazy week. Lake Travis area schools and businesses across the region shut down Friday. Kids used cardboard boxes as makeshift sleds and scraped together enough ice to build teeny tiny snowmen.
Naturally, the kids loved it. For many, it was the first time they’ve seen actual snow. It wasn’t much, but we made the most of what we got. Around here even a dusting of snow is magical. My three year old was convinced Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen visited in the middle of the night and froze our backyard. The kids were so excited it was almost better than Christmas. So what if our attempt at a snow angel more closely resembled a dirt angel?
Of course our friends in the north (good-naturedly) mocked—and even us Texans poked fun at—our overwhelming response to the inclement weather day (one of our favorites was “8 Horrifying Photos of Austin’s Snow Day Snowpocalypse” —hilarious!). There were several that made me laugh and rang so true! But all joking aside, with over 300 accidents reported by Austin police in over a 24-hour period last week it’s clear the roads are dangerous. Snow is fun, but ice is scary. We were happy to stay home and enjoy the day off.
But then, as quickly as it came the snow and ice disappeared. Saturday people shed layers to play outdoors in the beautiful sunshine. Go figure. My daughter even got dressed in sandals yesterday morning. Seems logical, since she was sweating in shorts and a t-shirt the day before. I had to work to convince her to change in anticipation of yet another arctic burst coming that afternoon.
Here we go with Round 2!
Freezing rain, sleet, and icy roads. Both Leander ISD and Lake Travis ISD made very late calls to inform us that school would be on a two hour delay today. Usually, the delay gets called before people leave their houses, but some students had already arrived at school. Mother Nature, Lake Travis ISD and Leander ISD—they are all confused!
To top it off, the call was made a little over an hour later to cancel school altogether due to deteriorating weather conditions. This is a great reason for the kids to celebrate (at least the ones who stayed home), but might not be the best news if you’re working out of the house and actually need to get something done. Snow day last Friday, temps in the 70s over the weekend, snow day today…way to go Mother Nature.
So enjoy it while you can—it looks like we can build a snowgirl for our little snowman in the freezer (the kids couldn’t bear to watch him melt). Be safe if you have to drive, and if you’re not a fan of the cold you’re in luck. Around here, if you don’t like the weather, wait a day. It’ll change as temps warm up tomorrow and get back in the 70’s by Friday.
