I  have had the pleasure of living in eight various states in my lifetime, and each of them holds different memories when it comes to snow.  As a child living in Tennessee, my friends and I would build snow igloos and forts, and the snow would last for many days.

Although I have not live in Colorado, I visited family there one winter.  There are pictures of me as a small child enjoying the snow, but one of the few memories of that vacation was not so good.  The family we were visiting had taken us for a ride to see the area.  When we returned to their home, I was so excited to play in the snow that I immediately jumped out of the truck and into a patch of snow taller than me.  It did not take long before my screaming began, and I was soon sitting in my father’s lap in front of the fireplace in trying to warm my hands.  I had forgotten to put my gloves on, which had damaging results for a small child.

The one year we got a few sprinkles in my childhood home of South Georgia, everyone went outside to taste the snow and take pictures.  It was a big deal, and almost everyone was excited.  It did not matter that the snow only dusted the ground.

I believe it was in 1989 that it snowed in Florida.  I was a teenager living in North Florida, and I have memories of the streets being filled with wrecks.  Teenage boys (or at least the ones I knew) quickly learned that if they pulled their parking brake up while driving, their cars would lose control and turn in circles.

Fast forward to my twenties, and I was living in South Georgia and engaged to my husband, living in North Mississippi.  The night I was to fly out to meet him for Christmas, a blizzard hit the South.  I was stuck in the Atlanta airport into the morning hours.  Once I did get to Memphis, Tennessee, they had lost my bags, and the man behind the counter told me they would not be paying for a hotel.  In the end, they paid for a hotel, and my husband got to see my temper for the very first time.  (He still married me.  And in my defense, I was extremely tired and hormonal.  It was just not a good situation, overall.)

That blizzard had turned the scenery into a beautiful land of ice, and all the trees looked as if they were made of crystal.  However, it did not take me long to learn that ice meant danger.  As the ice melted from the rooftops, it would come down in large chunks, hurting people.  The same went for large tree branches breaking from the weight.

I only experienced the land of ice that one year.  The following years of living in Mississippi, I learned that people looked forward to the snow days.  The snow only lasted for a day or two, and everyone stayed home from school and work.  Sometimes they got up to three different snows in one year.

Years later, while living outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, everyone looked forward to the snow days also.  However, there was much more accumulation, which made for better snowmen.  No matter how much snow was on the ground, it usually melted within a day or two.  There was that time it stayed on the ground for about a week, longer in shady areas.

The greatest thing about southern snow is that is doesn’t stay on the ground long, and everything closes.  It’s like a holiday.  Also, we can have snow during the week, and then we’re wearing shorts on the weekend, with it being in the low 70s.  Our winter weather is mixed with cold and warm days, so we get some breaks from the cold and get to comfortably play outdoors.  Although, this year it’s just been cold and dreary.  It reminds me of living in the North, where I never experienced warmth in the winter.  It was just cold – very, very cold.  (I really can’t stress the amount of cold!)

And since this is getting long, I have decided to write four separate posts.  Two posts will have northern snow, and the other two will be from the South.  From the following pictures, I’d love for you to guess which one you believe caused the most difficulties.

Was it the heavy snows in New Jersey of 2010 and 2011?

Or the blizzard in 2010 that shut down New York City?

How about the snow that took Atlanta by surprise this week?

And lastly, there is a family ski vacation I will tell you about.  I’ll have to find some pictures, but it falls in there with the bad moments I’ve had with snow.  The only hint I’ll give you for now is that women that were raised near a beach and used to wearing flip flops might not do well with a pair of skis and a mountain.  Things could easily go wrong and get out of control.

Stay tuned over the next week for the four posts I’ll be typing about each of these moments of snow in my life.  They are highly memorable and not something I’ll be forgetting!