Snow Days A Southern Holiday

It is such a cliche' but so true that the world has become a smaller place. You see it on a drive by fast food row how local and national cuisines have spread to all ends of the earth. You can now get Le Big Mac on the Champs-Elysees or a Starbucks triple skinny cappuccino in China's Forbidden City.

What were once regional cultural differences have been exposed and adopted around the world. In doing so our lives have been enriched, but our unique regional cultural differences have been diluted.

As a Realtor I do not need a demographer to tell me that populations are moving south. Thanks to the invasion of the "blue plates" (slang for our northern neighbors who all have blue car tags) Nashville has become a NHL city. I like Hockey although I don't know a hat trick from icing. It still does not offer the same thrill as the opening of SEC football season, but I don't put hockey down.

While I appreciate what my friends who settled here from lands north of the Mason Dixon line have contributed to the local culture, I do have one complaint... their complete misunderstanding and ridicule of the uniquely Southern Holiday known as Snow Days.

Now I know what my Yankee friends say about southerners. We don't know how to drive in the white stuff, we don't even have snow blowers and other snow removal equipment, we wipe out grocery stores, and close schools with a mere forecast of a few flakes. Well these things may be true, but you miss the point! A Snow Day is a Southern Holiday, and it's time to understand this tradition, celebrate, and enjoy it.

Let me explain the holiday...

First get ready, by which I mean get a 2 week supply of food and include all the goodies you swore off with your New Years resolutions. My Northern friends don't snicker when Publix and Kroger come to life at Christmas and Thanksgiving. Food is important to the celebration of all Holidays especially Snow Days.

Second, a Snow Day is a time to stay home and be unproductive guilt free. You can call your boss and say you can't make it in even if you live 2 blocks away. It's not a lie, it's just part of a myth of the holiday like Santa Clause and Easter Bunnies. Your boss will understand.

And third, celebrate! Nothing is more beautiful in the winter than a blanket of snow, so relax, eat, find a make shift sled and rejoice with your family. Transplanted Snow Buds chill out and by the way....

Happy Snow Days!