What’s your snow personality?

With the impending “fiercest (snow) storm in 20 years” about to hit the mountainous regions all over Israel, people can’t help but react. Studies have shown that someone’s personality can be determined by how they react to predictions of snow in Israel. It is called the snow personality. Here are a few:

• The nay-sayers (“You believe that? The weathermen just predict what they want, not what they expect”)
• The grouches (“Ugh, snow? I moved to Israel to get away from the snow!”)
• The cynics (“Snow? I’ll believe it when I see it…”)
• The happy-go-lucky (“Snow! Whoohoo! Hot cocoa at my house tonight!”)
• The over-reactor (“Snow? Oh man, where’s my shovel? I better stock up on bottled water and all of the food on my grocer’s shelves just in case…”)

The last great snow storm in Israel, 2008. How will this storm compare?

What’s my snow personality, you say? I’ve got some of that happy-go-lucky, but no small measure of over-reactor. You see, if I’m going to have hot cocoa at my house, I’m going to be darn sure that I won’t run out of it. Okay, I don’t so much worry about my shovel, but I do want to make sure that we have a sled… and boots, and gloves, and waterproof pants, and any gear we may need for ultimate snow-playing, snowman-building, angel-making, snowball-fighting, and, of course, lots and lots of photographing.

Laura’s oldest daughter having a blast in the snow in Neve Daniel

Okay, I get a little overeager when snow is expected. I guess there’s a bit of little girl stuck inside me, waiting for her moment to, yet again, emerge into a white winter wonderland, eyes alight at the fluffy snowflakes floating down to coat her world in wintry sparkling magic. A fleeting moment where time stands still, life and responsibilities are put on hold, and an enchanted world exists where everyone can be a child again.

Snow is a mini vacation that arrives at my door. A vacation of fun, family time, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and new memories made and preserved in so many photos.

So what’s my snow personality? A born-again child, reliving the wonders of snow days gone by, while assuring the magic continues for the next generation. In Israel, snow days are unusual and special. Let’s make the most of them….

Laura out in her element during the last big snow in Israel, in 2008