by W.R.Weiland
Like the typical winter weather scenario here on Delmarva, feelings toward snow in the forecast is often mixed.
As kids, if you grew up on Delmarva, even the slightest utterance of snow from the local weatherman triggered uncontrollable excitement. The possibility of a snow day fueled anxious anticipation in much the same way a forecasted south swell does amongst the surf community here. Snow on Delmarva is a special time. It dresses trees that have gone dormant for the winter and contributes to the elegance of evergreens. It blankets our beaches in the most pure white. And, perhaps my favorite, snow on Delmarva, a good snow, brings with it a silence to our little towns, if even for just a short time.
As I write this at 5:30 in the morning, the temperature is currently sitting at 38°F with the mercury forecast to drop through the day, nearly 30° colder than yesterday. We’ve all heard of places that have four seasons in a single day. Delmarva certainly comes close. A stiff northeast wind and rain pelt against the windows of my small apartment on Herring Creek. Will the marsh be hidden beneath drifts of snow this time tomorrow, or will the Atlantic and our surrounding bays prove too much for this system to live up to the hype of a 5 – 10 inch snowfall forecast?
While we wait and listen to the howls of winter ride the wind past our windows, let us remember a distant time. Once we were children, awaiting those mornings when we would, immediately upon awakening, peer out of our bedroom window to a wonderland that filled us with joy and excitement. Let us remember a time when the first snowfall of the season brought with it a magic that we could all know. Because magic, like snow, takes just the right ingredients, mixed at just the precise moment. On Delmarva, this magic show only comes to town every several years. It is the rarity of such a snowfall that makes the show so exclusive, and one which we all can learn to appreciate. Snow on Delmarva is another one of those traits that make it so special and unique. Home is snow on Delmarva.