I woke up this morning, opened my window and BAM! To some of you my fascination with snow will seem sort of stupid- yeah so what, you say. Keep in mind I was raised in California in a part that doesn't get snow, and my immidiate family are not snow sport people- so this is all really new to me. Up till now here in York, there has been a couple little snow storms at night, but by 10am the snow is usually melted away. While I was in Germany we got snow in Heidelburg, and that was really awesome. This though was even more cool!
So I throw on my beanie, scarf, coat, gloves and walkman (yeah don't start). I walk outside, and it just starts swirling and coming down. I swear- I thought the sky was waiting for me like Nascar and I was the green light and the snow was Jeff Gordon. So I stumble out, and into the weather for what usually is a 45 minute trek to the other side of town. Taking the bus- like most people with an extra penny- never even occurs to me. This California Kid can handle anything Old Man Winter can throw at me (ha..ha..!).
So I start on my way, and my black coat, beanie, and yeah my headphones to my walkman are all soon covered in snow. The first part of the walk was ok because I was walking in fresh snow and it was as high as the tops of my shoes- no big deal. I noticed other people had big rubber boots on, and I soon realized why once I got into the slushy city area.
But anyway- so I am walking along, and I realize snow is getting in my pocket where my walkman is. Well, that just won't do because it could short-out my walkman- so I take the walkman off. As I pull my headphones off my head this frosty cap of ice comes along with it. So I shook my headphones off (yeah while it is snowing) then I put it all in my bag- my books were later soaked. Amateur status- I know.
Once I get past the city walls is where it really gets interesting. See they don't concrete the sidewalks here- it is just a collection of long stone slabs that are uneven. Now the city is well-trod, and so I am walking in what amounts to slush at this point- it is like the city is a giant 711 slurpy. My shoes are freaken worn to the bone (i.e. no traction), and I am all over the freaken place. Every curb is an adventure, just keeping my feet under me is a task that requires a great deal of concentration and bottom-lip-biting.
Halfway to the Manor- I dodge into my morning-stop Spar- which is like a 711- and I grab my morning orange juice. Well, when I walk in they have one of those big heaters blowing hot air on you- by the time I got my morning OJ and marched up to the counter- water was dripping off of me like Niagara Falls. The guy behind the counter was just smiling at me and I said something I have never said before "Hey! How do you like that! I'm raining!" The guy laughs, and I shove my OJ in my pocket for later, throw my now soggy gloves on, and brave the weather once again.
As I walk by people slipping and slidding on the sidewalk, people are rooting for me and cheering me on as I dashingly save myself one moment to the next. Some people just look at me and smile or laugh. I am breathing pretty hard in trying to keep my balance, and I think maybe I should slow down- not try and walk my regular warp speed. I realize my problem is all the other people- I keep having to adjust to get out of the way and make room for other people- these adjustments were causing the problems. So I thought a minute.
Then this big hulking guy walked by me, heading the same direction I was going, and I thought of Lord of the Rings before they went into the Mines of Moria and they were in the pass snowed in. So I get behind my Boromir for the day, and I follow him. Just as I suspected, people were getting out of this big dudes way! So I follow this guy most of the way through town- it worked like a dream- I wasn't slipping nearly half as much. He occassionally looked back at me, slowed down thinking I wanted to pass him, but nope- I stayed right behind him going his speed. I got to the Manor, and most of the people from my class were there and I walked in- snow all over me and I screamed- "Who wants to build a Medieval Snow Man!"
The girls- like cats afraid of water- looked at me appalled and shot back in snide ways with- "YOU go ahead!" I realized then that no one else thought this was nearly as fun as I did. So I convinced the ladies to go to the Refectory and get some Hot Chocolate- they grumbled but shuffled along after me. Once outside I started running through the snow that hadn't been disturbed screaming "Medieval Snow Man! Medieval Snow Man!" The girls all laughed, and made intelligent remarks how I am not acting my age.
Later my walk home was just as fun. I was noticing people smiling at me or giving me a comic look of some kind- I realized I had a huge smile on my face. I got home and my feet were soggy, my socks sloppy, my jacket soaked, my gloves saturated- but I had a blast!