How about the snow last Friday? Exciting, no? Coming from someone who hopes to live up north someday, this is going to sound a little quacky ... I dislike snow. But, somehow, I blame the general dislike for swirling white flakes falling from the sky on one particular item:
Amarillo weather is the most inconsistent aspect of my life. I guess you could say it is inconsistently consistent.
“Oh, but you live in Texas! It’s hot! Go ride your horse! Collect tumbleweeds! Mispronounce every word ending in ‘ing’! Spend a lovely day where the deer and the antelope play.”
The truth is, anyone who believes the stereotype (and believe me, they do) fails to realize our weather actually has a mind of its own. Amarillo, Texas is the UN headquarters for weather. I picture the Sun sitting at the end of a rectangular, wooden table with the Moon on the opposite side and other weather contributors (clouds, rain drops, snow, wind) surrounding the remaining spots. Their purpose?
Wind: Oh, well, I’ve messed with Chicago long enough ...
Rain: Yeah, and don’t forget our date last week with the East Coast and Florida, Windy.
Snow: Who needs Canada, eh?
Moon: I’d fully love to stick around here.
Sun: Okay then, here’s the plan ...
They proceed to orchestrate a week’s worth of Hades for all who inhabit this wonderful city.
You walk to class in the morning wearing winter hats, coats, scarves, and gloves and shed them by the time you reach your car an hour later (and, naturally the steering wheel, seats, and seat buckle are blistering hot). By noon, the wind begins whipping in your face, and people seem to be driving crazier than usual or behaving downright rudely. At the five o’ clock lull --when the sun goes down--a full moon greets you and suddenly the rudeness makes sense. But, then a cloud rolls by and conglomerates into a beautiful, mountainous fluff lighted by lightning, dampened with rain, and sounding with thunder. The night air begins to cool into freezing temperatures and the next morning, yes, that is your neighbor’s roof covered in snow and your car covered in frost.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
To most people, this scenario sounds crazy, but I have experienced every season in one fell swoop and most citizens of Amarillo will agree -- we have a unique ecosystem. I suppose the one thing that keeps me from raising a fist in the air and shaking it to the sky is a lyric from a song by a well known band:
“... When it rains it shines, it’s just a state of mind.”
Amarillo weather is the most inconsistent aspect of my life. I guess you could say it is inconsistently consistent.
“Oh, but you live in Texas! It’s hot! Go ride your horse! Collect tumbleweeds! Mispronounce every word ending in ‘ing’! Spend a lovely day where the deer and the antelope play.”
The truth is, anyone who believes the stereotype (and believe me, they do) fails to realize our weather actually has a mind of its own. Amarillo, Texas is the UN headquarters for weather. I picture the Sun sitting at the end of a rectangular, wooden table with the Moon on the opposite side and other weather contributors (clouds, rain drops, snow, wind) surrounding the remaining spots. Their purpose?
Wind: Oh, well, I’ve messed with Chicago long enough ...
Rain: Yeah, and don’t forget our date last week with the East Coast and Florida, Windy.
Snow: Who needs Canada, eh?
Moon: I’d fully love to stick around here.
Sun: Okay then, here’s the plan ...
They proceed to orchestrate a week’s worth of Hades for all who inhabit this wonderful city.
You walk to class in the morning wearing winter hats, coats, scarves, and gloves and shed them by the time you reach your car an hour later (and, naturally the steering wheel, seats, and seat buckle are blistering hot). By noon, the wind begins whipping in your face, and people seem to be driving crazier than usual or behaving downright rudely. At the five o’ clock lull --when the sun goes down--a full moon greets you and suddenly the rudeness makes sense. But, then a cloud rolls by and conglomerates into a beautiful, mountainous fluff lighted by lightning, dampened with rain, and sounding with thunder. The night air begins to cool into freezing temperatures and the next morning, yes, that is your neighbor’s roof covered in snow and your car covered in frost.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
To most people, this scenario sounds crazy, but I have experienced every season in one fell swoop and most citizens of Amarillo will agree -- we have a unique ecosystem. I suppose the one thing that keeps me from raising a fist in the air and shaking it to the sky is a lyric from a song by a well known band:
“... When it rains it shines, it’s just a state of mind.”
In Amarillo, we can experience all four seasons in an hour. How lucky is that!?!
Crazy weather. The snow was the last thing I could think about when imagine Texas. But recently, I learned that Texas also faces snow when winter.
I was checking to see if class would be cancelled (hopefully) and I stumbled upon this blog. As I sat here at work I really enjoyed reading word for word. would love to read more.