The Non-Snow Day

Our front lawn looks a little too green.

When is a snow day not a snow day? When there’s nary a snowflake in sight!

Our Houston meteorologists almost had been giddy with excitement all week, virtually promising us that we would have a rare snowfall last Friday. Our schools even closed an hour early in anticipation of the nasty weather we were about to have last Thursday evening. Soon we received the news that thrilled every kid: All the schools in the Houston area would be closed the next day.

That especially was good news for my #2 son, who stayed home from high school Thursday with a bad cold and a fever. He really need another day to recuperate and sleep in late . . . well, after he woke up early to see the one to three inches of snow we were supposed to have.

Ice was plentiful on the plants’ leaves.

So what did we wake up to last Friday? Ice on the plants, grass, and some roads after a night of freezing rain. But that fluffy white stuff? It totally missed the Houston area, spreading its joy and woe north of our fair city.

My younger son can hardly believe what he doesn’t see!

Talk about disappointing! All those wonderful snow-filled photos I was looking forward to shooting?

Ice dots some delicate leaves.

I had to settle for snapping away at our icy environs. Yes, they’re pretty in their own way.

Icy patterns form on our pool’s waterfall.

But it ain’t snow!

Sidebar: It’s tough being a weather forecaster in the Houston area. During the summer, every day is pretty much the same: Hot and humid with a 20 percent chance of rain. Not much to get excited about. So when a hurricane or a blizzard comes close, every news station in town mobilizes its team to bombard us with complete, hours-long coverage of what all too-often turns into a silly nonevent. I almost feel sorry for them. Almost!

Icicles hang from an outside storage bin.

Of course, I lived more than half my life in the Chicago area, so I don’t ever have to see snow again. But my #2 son has rarely experienced the flakey stuff, and he was so looking forward to building another snowman.

A disc that my younger son left out in the grass overnight is covered in ice.

Still, the kid managed to have fun with the ice that was everywhere except on the ground (thank goodness!).

Breaking up the ice on our garbage can is cold work!

But next time the forecasters say it’s going to snow, I hope they get it right. Snow fooling!

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