Snowmaggedon

This weekend was supposed to be busy and filled with soccer and errands and movement, but all of that was halted with this incredible, record breaking storm. I am over everyone saying how many records this beast has broken, because it is insane the amount of times that I have had to shovel in the middle of April. The true measure of adulthood is when you shovel before it stops snowing so that the impending snow removal won't be so bad... forethought like that can only be established with the wisdom of having to live through a mistake like that once.

I don't know how to feel about this snow. Most of my being is extremely annoyed and frustrated that I have to keep wearing boots and parkas, as well as this being a very large neon sign stating that climate change is very real and very impacting (if you think global warming is a hoax because it's cold and snowy, please educate yourself by reading this). But the remaining part of me believes that everything happens for a reason.

The Gophs were supposed to play Mankato down in Shattuck today. About a half an hour before I was about to leave to board the bus, the staff decided that the roads were too dicey to try and traverse today. About a half an hour past when the game would have ended, the dome collapsed under the weight of the snow. The falling debris would have absolutely injured someone, but luckily no one was hurt today. Chilling moments like these cannot be easily forgotten, nor dismissed. Though things seemed annoyingly on halt today, there is always a bigger plan out there for all of us.

Though bad weather can sometimes be a wrench in the spoke of life's ever turning wheel, sometimes it can be a welcome breath of fresh air. How magical that we get to be blanketed with 18 inches of snow, made up of billions of water crystals that are each inherently unique? The snow provides a moment of silence and pause for us all. We live in a world that is constantly moving and constantly entertained with music or social media or TV. There is always something on around us and something that we have to do to finish out our days. But on snow days, everything changes. Sledding is now more important than TV. Hot chocolate is now more important than coffee. Listening to the snow gently fall is more important that Spotify.

Today is the one year anniversary of one of my high school friends passing away. We weren't particularly close, he was one of those guys I would say hi to in the halls and he would say hey back, but I remember how alive he was. He would always try to squeeze every single drop of excitement out of every day, even the most mundane ones with the worst weather. It is dawning on me more and more how true the saying "the days go fast but the years go slow" really is... it seems like yesterday we were all organizing the senior prank and I was telling him where he needed to park his car to cause the most traffic disruption, but these days drag on.

I hope we all use this fresh week to live like he lived, to see the good in every day and to constantly search for the sunshine in the midst of the rain and snow.

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