It is B-E-A-utiful

No wonder the color white stands for peace in humanity. The pristine white blanket of snow everywhere calmed my mind when I went for a walk this afternoon. I woke up this morning and all I saw out my window was snow everywhere – on trees, on bushes and shrubs, on the street that I am on and on every thing that my eyes could lay it focus on. I went at 12 noon to shovel the driveway clean (hm.. these details should be on facebook? … nay… I will stick to this) and it took me two hours to clean the driveway on my van side and also to clean the snow that blocked my driveway as a result of snow plows blocking me in. At 2pm., I decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood since I was already geared up for the weather. I kept walking, one small step at a time on the icy, snowy roads, enjoying the serene beauty of the snow covered surroundings.


While walking I could not help but smile at those who were questioning about whether a snow storm this big would hit our region and questioning the reports that the weathermen gave. Wait… I am hearing something…. Maybe it is the standing ovation that those people are giving to the weather crew for being correct. Why could it not be possible? When people can expect an apology from the weathermen when a snow prediction or rather forecast does not happen the way the report said, why not the same people appreciate them when their forecast comes true? Based on the data that is gathered from the satellites, only so much can be inferred and forecast can be made. It is up to us to be prepared for a situation that the weather crew forecasts. If the weather does not turn out the way they predict, it is not their fault. Anything can happen up to the last minute. The storms can weaken in strength, the winds can shift direction, and the temperatures might not be low enough for the snow to accumulate or stick to the ground. Why is that, that we cannot take a forecast and act upon it to prevent any disasters and protect ourselves? We should be glad that we are getting any predictions at all to start with.


Based on the forecasts, airports had cancelled flights on Friday itself. Schools from all over the region had closed on Friday morning. Are all these agencies foolish to make such decisions based on simple forecasts? They all are preparing themselves in case something as big as this snow storm happens. Exactly! It is a forecast and it is a hit or miss situation. What about all those economists who worked on creating budgets for transportation department for snow preparation? Every single transportation department has already run over-budget because of all the storms that had pummeled us with snow this current fiscal year. Are they apologizing for their bad estimates? Or are they defending themselves saying that they had prepared the budget based on the data that they had and the models that they prepared. So why are they any different that the meteorologists who forecast based on whatever data that they have?


Anyways, with these thoughts cycling in my mind, I kept my pace in walking, enjoying the snow that is falling on my face. I slipped and fell down a couple of times (okay… more than five times) but even after the fall, it brought out laughs and the child within. Greeting a few that were to be seen on the roads, waving to the snow plows that passed by, watching the birds fly by in this cold weather, throwing a few snowballs at the trees, sitting for a few minutes on the snow embankment and enjoy the after noon of snow, I could not help but say to myself - ‘It is a beautiful day no matter what’.