By Sharon Ginsburg
I used to have to shovel my driveway, thankfully rather a short one in the suburbs of Ronceverte, to get out in the winter. I used to not necessarily be able to drive up hill on my street to get to the main road, even after the streets were plowed. True, I always have owned and driven a front wheel drive car, not the WV State vehicle, an all-wheel drive Subaru, preferably silver. Subaru as the WV state car goes with rhododendron as the state flower, cardinal as the state bird, sugar maple as the state tree, black bear as the state animal and the state motto” Mountaineers are Always Free.” This is written in Latin on the WV state logo “Montani Semper Liberi” that also has the official creation date of WV as a state separated from Virginia, June 20, 1863. This occurred under President Lincoln after a complex and contentious process. The western part of VA at that time during the civil war did not support secession from the union and decided to form its own state becoming the 35th, eventually using the name West Virginia.
The deep bone chilling cold this past fall during late November and early December was such a shock after so much mild autumn weather and hot, hot summer. More extreme temperatures that are alternating faster up and down plus too dry or too wet, though at my house the soil was like concrete all summer and fall, dry and hard, despite the occasional forecast of heavy rain which generally was nowhere near my home.
The last two winters it has rained all February and March except for a bit of snow in early February only. I used to drive to Florida in the dead of winter to deal with aging elderly parents and I would always get back to WV in time for a fast trip to stock up on groceries before the blizzard arrived, closing schools and keeping me home for a week. The snowfall I photographed on December 5, 2009, buried neighborhood cars not parked in garages and piled deep on tree branches, mailboxes and roof tops. My neighborhood street and main county road looked like a wagon trail buried in snow with a two-wheel track visible made by a 4-wheeler or 4-wheel drive truck that felt inclined to test its limits and survival in bad weather and bad driving conditions. Not me. I would be stocked up on good books and food ahead of time and use my phone to maintain sanity and connections. Which reminds me that for decades the electricity would go out with an ice storm or deep wet snow every winter also. I still have a telephone that does not need electricity to recharge batteries, but I have not needed it for years. Now the new extreme events are not snow but maybe a bomb cyclone, high winds with heavy rains, not snow like we used to have.
My son started skiing at Silver Creek and Snowshoe in Pocahontas County when he was 3 years old with his father who volunteered with the adaptive program helping physically or mentally challenged skiers. So of course he started his own children skiing there very young too. I do recall being able to cross-country ski decades ago on the road where I live on the edge of Ronceverte before the plows cleared the lane. I was not skilled at stopping or turning so I had to sit down on my skis to feel safe and under control sometimes. I am sure I entertained the neighborhood back when we used to have snow in the winter, enough to ski or sled on my street before those plows showed up. Now I hardly get a chance to make or throw a snowball.
