How's the weather up there?

When I was a kid we lived far away from my mom's parents. They lived here in Washington and we lived in Tennessee. Every time my mom would talk to grandma on the phone she would ask about the weather and a weather conversation would ensue.

I always wondered what was so interesting about the weather. Now I understand. I'm sure mom missed this mild climate. She had moved to a place of extremes. Hot and humid in the summer, bitter cold in the winter.

As much as I hate to admit it, I sometimes talk about the weather with my kids, too. They are in Tennessee and I'm here. I remember the days in Tennessee when it would be 65 one day and snow the next. I don't miss the extremes, but I do have fond memories of walking around town after dark on a hot summer night wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Can't do that here any time of the year. Some people do, but they are natives. I don't call 65 degrees and a breeze off the water shorts and tank top weather. Maybe after I've been here a while longer...

I also follow a couple of meteorologists on Facebook. I know some people who are addicted to the Weather Channel, and I admit I find it fascinating on some level.

So last week I was out talking to a potential freelance writer who wants to work for the paper. The day began innocently enough. Mild temperature. And by noon it was this:

I called the school to see if they were dismissing early because the roads were pretty bad. The principal answered and said it was up to parents if they wanted to pick up early.

I was ready to go, but had to eat first. My car goes well in snow so I wasn't worried that a few mins. would make a difference getting there to pick Sean up from school. I love snow. I don't really like driving in it here because there are too many people who don't know how to drive in it. They literally abandon their cars in the middle of the road. Last year there were so many people who left their cars on the freeways that the plows couldn't get through to clear the roads. I don't understand it.

So I was kind of excited about this late snow and was hoping it would stick around for a while so we could play in it a bit. As I sat eating, the clouds passed on and the sun came out. By the time I was ready to go the roads were clear.

Oh well. Maybe we'll get another snow in March. It could happen. But most likely it will rain. I just hope this year we'll have spring. Last year we had cold and rain until August. I think we had a week of high temperatures, and that was it. That was summer folks. Then it was on to fall.

I guess the weather can be pretty interesting.