Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A White Christmas in 2009?


From jmtulsa on Flickr - pretty, no?

According to local meteorologist Julie Chin's latest forecast, Santa might just have more to land on than sand, clay and lakes when he visits Green Country Thursday night.

That's right, kids - snow is in the forecast.


Snow Day 2009

Right now Julie's not seeing much snow coming our way - an inch at best, with possibly more along the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.

Having spent the last 26 years in T-Town, though, something tells me that this forecast for light snow isn't going to stop my fellow Okies from positively freaking out in one way or another.

For one, it's well-known and oft-observed by out-of-towners that we're not such good drivers in the weather. This applies to rain, sure, since we Oklahomans tend to go long periods without having to drive in any. But when the snow comes, this city practically shuts down.

No one goes anywhere unless it's to Wal-Mart for ice scrapers and groceries (and beer, of course - what other beverage would an Okie choose to help while away a snow day?), to the local hardware store for a generator (as anyone with a t-shirt that says, "I lived through Ice Storm 2007 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" could understand) or to leave work early to avoid traffic.

By "traffic" what I really mean is Tulsans who sit high and confident in trucks and SUVs with four-wheel drive. By "confident" I mean driving like bats out of hell. I agree, four-wheel drive works wonders in the snow. Still, snow driving requires just as much experience as it does equipment, and opportunities to gain that type of experience here in the Tulsa area don't happen that often.

So, snow frightens us a little. Ice scares the living daylights out of us.

Snow Day 2009

See? If you're an Oklahoman, you just had a heart attack.

We can handle cold temperatures with the best of 'em in the northeast, but winter precipitation? Count us in the house huddled around our DVRs or count us out.

Native Okies/Tulsans: What do you do when there's snow in the forecast? Those of you not from 'round these parts: What do you do when there's snow in the forecast? That is, when you're not staring mouth agape at us stocking up double on canned cranberry sauce and eggnog for Christmas this year.

Hey, you never know. Eating another can of cranberry sauce is much better than having to eat the dog that froze a week ago in an ice storm no one thought would be that bad. I'm just sayin'.

7 comments:

Jax said...

haha! Love this post, girlie! My personal favorite in T town are the parking lots in snow. There are still clearly marked lines (that are still fairly visible) and people park in like 4 places, sideways. It looks like freaking Armageddon at Target..haha..

I do feel my muscles clench in fear when it comes to ice as I was indeed someone who also "survived the ice storm of 2007" haha.. No power for 13 days. Icks!

Anyway, when I hear snow's in the forecast, I make sure my camera is charged b/c it's sure to make for fantastic photos. :) (And I also make sure my DVR is loaded with things to keep me entertained...haha).

Brigid said...

I hate the snow, but I am not afraid of it. One winter in Massachusetts was all I needed to put it in perspective. Ice, however, is evil. I don't drive on ice if I can avoid it. In 2007, I was without power for five days, which was plenty long enough for me.

Cindy @ Taste the World Photography said...

As long as it doesn't start until I leave town Christmas Eve (we're spending Christmas by ourselves in a cabin in Eureka! yay!) and goes away by Sunday....we're good. I hate the white stuff!

Unknown said...

If I have power I like to bake & cook. If, however, I have no power I head to Aunt's house around the corner(gas stove & a heater!) & knit myself a scarf!

Mom Mayhem says: said...

Yep to this Okie it'd be time to hunker down with some nice hot cocoa,a good movie/tv show,and my family and/or pets to cuddle with doesn't hurt either ;)
But yeah surviving the ice storm 07 was a bit different -with the power being out for a few days-No way to make hot cocoa and watch tv(Although we did use our laptop to watch a dvd until it went out ;)
We had the fire going and cuddled up around it -trying to keep the baby and everyone warm- Oh! and ate "counter food" stuff you could set out on the counter and eat-crackers,bananas,-etc. Once we found out my dad had power we went over there for a little bit and luckily the power was back on when we got back.
Anyways a White Christmas-is ok as long as we don't have to travel in it. If I remember right the last one here was in 2002-It was nice and pretty and we didn't travel far -so,was alright.

Gigi said...

I remember not too many years back when there was a nice solid sheet of ice and I was coming down Southwest Blvd. very s-l-o-w-l-y and my little Jeep Wrangler did a spinnee kind of thing and I ended up on a rather small center median, but luckily, barely missed the sign post, I'm talking by barely an inch. My Jeep seat still has a sticky- up peak where my butt cheeks clenched the vinyl.

Tasha said...

Mom (a.k.a. Gigi), that's hilarious.

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