The ‘S’ word …..

It’s been nearly two years since the last measurable snowfall in and around Charlotte, and then (Jan. 19, 2022) it wasn’t much.

But around these parts all you have to do is mention that four-letter word and, well, a large chunk of the population goes nuts.

We’re supposed to get a collision of wet and cold this weekend and, even though most of our nearly-too-many local meteorogists have said there’s pretty much a snowball’s chance in you-know-where any flakes will fall here, the population is bracing.

Bottom line, it’s more likely the Carolina Panthers will win this weekend than any snowflakes will drift down into your yard if you live between, say, Interstate 85 and U.S. 1 in North Carolina.

And you should know those odds.

Today, even though the storm system is still about 3,000 miles away, a good many stalwarts are already hitting the grocery stores to get their milk, bread, eggs, Duke’s Mayonnaise and whatever else they think they’ll need “just in case.”

At least they’ll have plenty to eat, no matter the weather.

The thing is, even though climate change is really happening no matter what the social media liars would have you believe, it’s more likely that we’ll have a whole lot more heat than cold in the long run between what we know locally as the ‘foothills’ and the sandy eastern flatlands of the Carolinas.

We all have friends who slide back into an eight-year-old mentality any time the word ‘snow’ is uttered. Most of them are old enough to remember, decades ago, when we actually did get walloped by inches of the white stuff at least every winter, usually between January and March.

Now remember, in Charlotte six inches was considered a blizzard.

All those thousands of New England immigrants who’ve planted themselves in the area sit back and laugh at us over the infrequent snow frenzies.

They’re the ones who are smart enough to stay off the roads because, as we all know, very few people around here know how to drive on frozen precipitation – or even a little rainfall, for that matter.

The thing is, yes, snow is pretty while it lasts.

It’s logistically a pain in the butt, but it’s nice to sit indoors and watch it fall and, if you’ve a mind, maybe go outside and watch the neighborhood kids go crazy for a little while.

The older you get the more you appreciate snowfall as sort of God’s way of letting you know the earth needs a cool caressing from time to time.

Okay, I’d love to see it happen, but over time I’ve become one of those practical folks who takes anything like this with a huge grain of salt, particularly in the past decade or so.

Still, it’d be fun if the weather people got it wrong and we actually saw a little bit for a short while, wouldn’t it?

But I’m not going to hold my breath. At least this time.

Y’all stay safe, you hear?