A Memorable Chill

Prescott Weather: Freezing Rain/ Snow mix accumulation between 6 - 12 inches.

A dreary, bitter day on this unofficial American Holiday (the Super Bowl). The biting winds, a broken truck, and a lack of imagination have brought me back to my terrarium on this sacrosanct day of food and football. The streets of Prescott are abnormally quiet, perhaps due to the weather, the stringent DUI laws - or the sanctuary of an inviting abode replete with a wide-screen high-def television, revelers of multi-million dollar commercials, and, of course, Jan's famous Guacamole dip (three kinds of peppers, people!). Me, I'm not so into the celebration this year; but I did enjoy the serene street scene today. The fierce wind and stinging sleet transported me into a blissful mood. Many of my acquaintances will tell you that I am no fan of the Winter weather, that I pray for global warming and beaches in the middle of Nebraska; however, I do enjoy the guilty pleasure of such foreboding days. The ominous overcasts, the molesting precipitation, and the welcomed - albeit - eerie silence associated with such days thrusts me into a nostalgic mood. I think back to when I would commence in my daily sojourn to high school, especially when the infamous wind chills and ice storms reigned over the East Coast. The students who bussed into school usually arrived late. The fortunate product of inclement weather and horrible road conditions. I, of course, was not so lucky - unless KWY 1060 called out our school number, my ass was going to school. Those days meant hanging in the cafeteria with the few kids who, like me, lived in the unfortunate geographic location of a walking distance radius to school - the brave, the few, the spatially disadvantaged. It almost held the same negative social connotation of being foreign or unathletic in gym class when teams were being chosen. Great extra time to further procrastinate a History assignment and to contemplate the skirt lengths of the ever chaste Catholic School Girl. The mind of teenage boy cannot fathom any deeper meaning than Mary Kelly's obvious disregard for the three inches above the knee absolute. There are many positives unseen in the career of a Catholic School kid, this, fortunately, was one of them. However the message of this post was my isolated wandering during snow-driven weather. When you walk in these storms, you walk alone. Your mind is abuzz, darting from things said and done which could have been played differently. While walking from the proverbial A to B my mind would roam in a multitude of directions and ideas, and to this day still does. I look back on those quiet days as a start to an established career as a moseying, self-reflector. When I walk I shut out the world, my thoughts become as crisp and clear as the wind or snow that hurls itself at me with kamikaze-like zeal. In this vacuum of inclement weather I find a small space for reflection.