I never thought we’d see the day. I had honestly come to peace with the fact that I’d probably never see one in our time spent in the Sip. Whispers of the possibility of snowfall had reached my ears earlier in the week. Last time I heard such talk, there was only disappointment to follow as Jim and I woke the next morning and saw what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing: grey skies, browning grass, and snowless streets. When I caught wind of the possible snow nearing the end of the week, I knew better than to hope. Besides, hadn’t it been nearly four years since the last snowfall in Laurel? But still, a little part of me did. Our very own snow day in Mississippi.
Growing up in Virginia, I wrestled with falling asleep on the verge of a snow day. My excitement typically exceeded my exhaustion. However, due to my camping out the previous night in Laurel’s new Chick-fil-A parking lot in order to win free Chick-fil-A for a year, my exhaustion won. I went to bed uncharacteristically early without so much as a second thought. And I won free Chick-fil-A for a year, in case you were wondering!
When I woke uncharacteristically late, I glanced out my bedroom window from across the room. Why was it so bright? Then it registered: snow.
Glorious, white, majestic, fluffy, snow.
One might think I reacted like a child, excitedly waking Jim to come and see as I hurriedly rushed to slip on my duck boots over my pajama pants. We stepped out onto our front porch, greeted by the most welcoming sight: our own winter wonderland. A blanket of freshly fallen snow covered the neighborhood, decorating the lamp posts and complimenting the rooftops. The Christmas trees in our yards all dressed in white, lights beaming brightly through the wintery flakes. The only word that came to mind: picturesque.
I couldn’t take it, I had to walk in it! But as I took my first step down our steps, it appeared I’d forgotten the slippery substance that is snow. Rather than gracefully stepping into the snow-covered steps, I gracelessly slipped and fell backwards, landing on my rump at the bottom of our steps. Needless to say, I was in pain for the rest of the day due to a back ache and wounded pride. But my minor incident didn’t stop us from enjoying our winter wonderland. And when we weren’t enjoying the snow, we were sitting by the fire, enjoying our first, live Christmas tree all decked out for the holidays. We smell a new tradition in the works for the Hurt home, and it smells an awful lot like fresh pine!
Neighbors were out in their front yards sharing greetings of “Happy Holidays!” and “Merry Christmases!” while building snowmen or conducting snowball fights. We all agreed this was our white Christmas, it just came ahead of schedule. Indeed, Christmas came early for the Hurts this year, and in the best form possible: snow. We were privileged to watch as several neighborhood kids discovered snow for the first time. Those moments were magical. The only kind of magic that can be brought by a Mississippi snow.
Home Sweet Hurt 