Texas Snow Day
That OlD Saying: if you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait a minute.
My daughter sent this photo today.
It was taken near her college dorm in Abilene. I was just there the day before. Under blue skies, only a chill wind welcomed our arrival from Austin.
And, yes, of course, I escorted her back to college. Dads with daughters will understand this. Wanting to arrive safely, we left a day early, knowing that a winter weather storm was on the way.
This morning, six inches fell over three hours.
It’s not unusual for wintery mixtures to blanket much of West Texas every year. In Austin, however, I can count the number of snowfalls over thirty years on one hand.
Today was one of them.
The neighborhood kids took to our sloped street with sleds this afternoon. For many of them, this was probably the first flakes they had ever seen. I couldn’t help but think that if I were out there with my forty-something-year-old friends, there would be plenty of “hold my beer and watch this” moments.
In the end, snowfall hardly ever remains here for more than a day, so you have to “make hay while you can,” which reminds me of another old saying:
“If you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait a minute.”
That bold color of language – it’s just one of the many traits that make our culture here unique. Speaking of Texas colloquialisms and common sayings, here are a few of my favorites:
“It’s hotter than a fur coat in Marfa.” (heat)
“That’s close enough for government work.” (acceptability)
“It’s windier than a fifty-pound bag of whistling lips.” (windy)
“He’s all hat and no cattle.” (boastfulness)
“God ain’t much of a rainer out here, but he was mighty generous with the stars.” (darkness)
“I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw ‘em.” (dishonestly)
“They’d charge hell for a bucket of ice water.” (bravery)
“Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. (business)
One of my favorites is credited to Isaac Cline, the wildly popular meteorologist, who nailed it when he said:
“Texas is a land of eternal drought interrupted occasionally by Biblical floods.”
It’s too bad that our snowfall wasn’t of such proportions. Unfortunately, it will all be gone tomorrow.
I also publish my poetry through Wild Words, which delivers one new poem, once a week – nothing more, nothing less. You can subscribe to each of these newsletters below. Thanks! Jason
