By: Jennifer Richardson Holt
It has been a polar week. I mean that in pretty much every sense of the word that I can think of. If your first thought was the weather, then you would be correct. That is an accurate description of the climate of my area right now. If you thought about the word more in the polarizing sense of the word, that too would probably be accurate as well as this country just inaugurated a new president. This week, with the wild weather and the pomp, circumstance and slough of very vocal opinions about our government, well, for lack of a better term, things have been a lot.
To come at things from the polar angle, we had a snow event here in the deep south. We have relatively significant cold from time to time. No, we aren’t talking about the temperatures of Nome with northern lights and endless nights, but it does get pretty cold. But this week we got the rare snow event in the deep south and when I say deep, I mean the beaches of the gulf coast which are normally white sanded were white for an entirely different reason. Snow on palm trees is a strange thing to behold. And of course, as always is the case, our world had to basically shut down for a few days because the snow and ice made our roads impassable. I know this seems a bit dramatic, but I ask what you suppose the reaction would be if someone from northern Norway had temperatures of 98 degrees with the 98% humidity. From where I live, that would be scoffed at and be called an average summer day. So, as you can see, your view depends on your vantage point in this case.
While we had snow and were for the most part (other than my husband who works somewhere that apparently has enough faith in his driving abilities that assumes he can make it to work in any circumstance) sequestered in our homes. My daughter and I enjoyed ourselves playing in the snow. We threw snowballs at each other. I fought the terribly strong urge to stick snow down her pants and she was awkwardly bent over creating her snowballs. As many times as she unknowingly presented that opportunity to me, I am quite certain I deserve an award for resisting. On a side note, I can tell you that had it been me and my own mother (not that she would have been out in the snow since she loathes the cold) in that situation, I would have had a frigid hind end, but I digress. We followed animal tracks in the snow. And we may or may not now have two snowballs and a particularly menacing icicle in our freezer. Overall, while snow is stressful for our area when it comes to coping, it was and is a lovely surprise.
Now for the other side of the poles, or in this case, polls if you will (see what I did there)? America inaugurated a new president and, while I am not really old enough to have experienced a large number of presidents, I feel like this one has to be one of the more controversial. I tell you, everyone, their grandma and their dog has an opinion on this guy. I understand it somewhat. He is a big personality. He always has been even before he got into politics. I do find it intriguing that before he ran for this office, everybody just looked at him as a well-known guy with a lot of money. That was about it with no particularly strong feelings either way. Now suddenly the man gets into politics and a magical thing happens. One chunk of the population has declared that this president is the devil incarnate which seems a bit overly dramatic to me. Another portion of the population finds him to be the second coming, which is not only overly dramatic but terribly disrespectful and probably blasphemous. How everyone is looking at the same guy and getting such wildly different assessments is anyone’s guess. I daresay a media that paints whatever picture it wants regardless of truth and people who would prefer to believe everything they are told rather than go to the effort of research are largely to blame. That seems to be a very nasty plague heavily infecting both sides of the aisle these days.
Whether you are talking about winter weather or a president, the viewpoints are about as widely dispersed on the spectrum as is possible. Some people prayed for snow and reveled in it. Some people attempted to pray away said snow and loathed the very thought. I’m sure my mother would have tried this method if it weren’t for her granddaughter that wanted snow desperately. There are people that are convinced our country will be destroyed by our new president as well as those who believe he will right all the wrongs and fix all problems. The reality is, just like with winter weather, we will get what we get. Some will love it. Some will hate it. But I heard a fantastic saying that applies in either of these situations that goes like this, “If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.” Those are words to live by.
Prose and Possibilities 