When we moved away from Minneapolis in 2011, it was largely due to too much snow, which made simple tasks very painful. Only my mother hated snow more than me, as my commute to work would take over two hours from the time I dug my car out of a fresh 18″ snow bank until arriving, sliding all over slippery roads. But when we took snow out of the equation for almost ten whole years—save for a light dusting or flurries two or three times—I actually grew to miss it!

On Sunday, January 10, 2021 for the very first time in almost an entire decade of residing in Austin, we got an actual snowy day with legitimate accumulation. It was everything the Glanzer family hoped it could be!

However, there were parts of the day that reminded me of the pains of living in that kind of weather for month after month—the ordeals of finding mittens, hanging wet pants and shoes up to dry, traipsing snow through the house, etc.

The snow started around 9:30am, and never really stopped falling for almost seven straight hours. We went outside four different times, not knowing of course when it might end, wanting to take full advantage. We sledded, built a snowman with the neighbors, walked the streets greeting merry neighbors, and everything else one can do with snow. I even packaged a couple nice snowballs in the freezer to take out this summer and admire.

Snow even remained the following morning!
And there was even a scant amount left two mornings later!

I’m sure my mother, Marcie Glanzer, would be happy to sign up for living in this sort of climate with a solitary snowfall of 2″ once every ten years that fully melts in less 48 hours.