St. Louis Seasons

Right now seems the perfect time to tell you about the seasons in St. Louis. The leaves are turning, the weather is crisp and the sun is out. Sounds like a beautiful fall day, right? Don't be fooled. It is a beautiful fall day, but winter is coming, and it is coming soon.

Here's the deal. Birmingham, AL does not experience four seasons. We experience summer and fall. There are a few days of spring thrown in there that are always nice, and a few days when you need to grab your coat because it has gotten below 40 degrees. For the most part a heavy sweater and jeans will do. Oh yes, I owned wool pea coats, scarves and hats before I moved here, but let's be honest, it was all in the name of fashion. Did you know that scarves really were made for the purpose of keeping your neck warm?

Last winter was extremely difficult for me. I didn't know what to expect and when snow and ice started falling and the world did not stop I was horrified. If and when it snows in Birmingham, everyone lines up at the Piggly Wiggly to buy milk and bread and then either play in the snow or sit in their houses waiting for this tragedy to melt. Schools are cancelled. Work may be cancelled, and it is a perfectly legitimate excuse to call into work to tell them you are nervous about driving in the snow. (Keep in mind, the snow is usually about 1/2 an inch thick.)

Things are different up here. Last year I heard there was an ice storm headed to St. Louis, but I was still in the mindset of being in Alabama. Bad move. For some reason, I didn't have my car in the garage and when I woke up the next day, I found it covered in ice. On my way down to the car, I slipped on the ice covering the brick stairs and hit my head. However, I had to be at Pottery Barn Kids in less than 10 minutes and things were not looking good. I tried to shake my head out and headed carefully down to the car. When I say the car was covered in ice, I mean sheets of ice. Did I mention I didn't have an ice scraper? Even if I had, I don't know that it could have cut through at least an inch of ice that was on my windshield. Then I tried to get into the car. The freaking car was frozen shut! I had one leg up on the door while I yanked at the handle. When it finally popped open I jumped in and turned on the heat because, let's face it, I didn't have gloves on. (Disclaimer: my friend from Alabama was also trying to yank her car door open and the handle fell off. I am not the only one who had no idea what to do in this situation.)

I sat in the car and waited for the windshield to defrost. I waited. And waited. Nothing was happening because the ice was so thick. So I decided to use the old trick I learned in Alabama. I grabbed my driver's license and was headed out to scrape the windshield. (I know, it was stupid.) When I attempted to open the door, I realized I was now stuck INSIDE the car. I began panicking. (Keep in mind that my head was still cloudy from the incident on the stairs.) What in the world? I was now laying horizontally across my front seats trying to kick the door out. It worked. The driver's license trick didn't. When I got back in the car, I called my manager. She was annoyed that I was late and said to me, "Didn't you know there was an ice storm coming? It's been all over the news!?" Yes I knew. I just didn't recognize what a real ice storm meant.

When I finally got to work, my headache was getting worse and my eyes were fully dilated. I started crying (because that's what I do) and asked to go home. Again, manager not happy,but she let me leave. No one would let me drive because they were sure that I had a concussion, so I had to get a ride home with a co-worker that I had never met. I laid in the bed the rest of the day and tried to recover from my exhausting and terrifying morning.

So after that story can you see why I am dreading winter? I feel a little more prepared this year. I have scarves and boots that are made to keep me warm and I will never make the mistake of not parking in the garage again! People keep saying that since we had such a mild summer, the winter is going to be bad. What was last year??

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and try to stay warm as the winter sets in!!