Tales of Snow and Cold - The Polar Vortex

Photo taken by Melissa Schrock in NY

This week, the Polar Vortex descended on our continent, causing the lowest temperatures on record in many places. This blog is entitled "Tales of Snow and Ice" because I haven't experienced any of this firsthand since we moved from Colorado when I was ten.  However, the effects of the vortex have caused our thermometers to drop as well. It is only 36 this morning  in sunny California.

I have many FaceBook friends who live in colder climates, and as their yards and cities began to get their new crystal garments, the young moms would gamely post the fun things they were doing with their families: happy snowmen, snow angels, skating, sledding, and even making Jello snow. Their photos were
breathtakingly beautiful of trees laden with ice, the sun bravely trying to shine though.

Photo taken by Melissa Schrock in NY

Posts last week weren't as jolly; "Shoveling snow is backbreaking work, especially when your husband is out of town and it's up to the woman to clear the drive so kids can go to school;"  "The power went out but we're huddling together to keep warm;" "We haven't left the house for days." 

Other results of this vortex have  sometimes been stunningly gorgeous. Pictures of the Niagara Falls with the water and spray frozen in place, forming an ice fall of epic proportions; a huge lighthouse on an eastern lake, so covered with ice, fantastically shaped icicles, and snow, that it resembled a majestic fantasy king from some alien, frozen land. (Lake Michigan)

However, the dangerous side of ice and snow has lurked and burst out in so many stories I've seen: Three Amtrak trains with 500 people on board got frozen to their tracks and were covered by blowing snow;  boats in rivers and harbors marooned, iced in; jack-knifing trucks sliding into traffic or off the road because of road conditions. Just yesterday, I heard from a friend whose car tires refused to grab hold in her own driveway, not just once, but twice in the same day because of blowing snow covering icy concrete.

Hopefully, this brutal weather pattern is on its way out. It has left behind a mess, but people who are made in the image of God, will pull together as they always do after a crisis, and warmth and healing will be on the land again.