twice in my lifetime

What we had been waiting for, but never thought would come....

Since last Thursday we had been waiting for the forecasted snow. The weather people were giddy over the possibility, the newspapers ran front page articles, and everyone waited with anticipation. We had a right to be so geeky about the possibility of snow since the last time we experienced it was 1976. I was SIX people...a first grader who only saw the snow but maybe once a year, if that. (I still only see the snow but maybe once a year, if that.) Anyway, we listened to the rain pound on our windows and watched the temperatures drop and then....the skies cleared. It was such a let down.

So imagine my wonderment on Saturday as we were crossing over the freeway to enter onto the northbound on-ramp when I looked southward and saw a funky wall of a cloud, a mile south, hovering over a neighboring town. I discussed this odd cloud with my husband and kids as we headed onto the northbound entrance but dismissed my intuition that the cloud could be full of snow. (Like, who am I, a west coast California girl, to be an expert on snow clouds?!) 

After a minute or two of indecisiveness I asked the hubby to turn around and head south. And so he did. We followed the cloud to a historic county park that I walk at nearly every day. It's the beautiful place where I took Bean's bday photos. A place where I witness the explosion of California poppies, where I walk among the ancient oak trees and watch ranchers shuffle cows. A place where I have seen wild boar shuffling in the mud, listened to the spring song of the birds, and watched field grass sprout up and dry up every spring/summer.

We entered the parking lot and listened as the raindrops on our windshield fell silent. Heavy drops of snow littered the sky and dusted the landscape. We tumbled out of our car, totally unprepared for snow, but so excited to be witnessing the rare phenomenon. (We were so excited I left my car door open and hubby left the car running!) A few minutes later the entire town had come to witness the second arrival of snow in thirty five years.

And I did not have my camera.
I was heart sick.

Thank the good Lord for my hubby's iPhone. Most importantly, thank you to my hubby for his willingness to hand it over to me, an iPhone camera rookie, who was handling it in the wet snow. Because of his sacrificial releasing of his "baby" over to me, I was able to find joy in documenting this moment for my kids. After returning it to him, he captured this video below.

A few disclaimers before watching....
Please do not judge my mothering skills based on what my son is wearing. (I would like to note that he had a sweatshirt in the car but didn't want to put it on.) I, also, was totally unprepared to be on camera. (i.e., no makeup, better outfit, etc.)  What you are witnessing is a very real moment in our family life: my son, completely dressed inappropriately for the weather, and me totally without make up, or my hair combed. I am the quintessential housewife most of the time, thank you. (I don't know, maybe there's a reality tv show in there somewhere?)

Anyway, enjoy...

And that's all. Yippy for snow!
Okay, I'm over it. I'm much more of a California west coast weather kinda girl.
(I guess I should rethink my dreams of living in the pacific north west?)