Snow fall and Michigan

We moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan on Monday. Familiar surroundings, lots of Indian faces, 73 degrees F outside and finally Leo and I in our own sweet apartment. Overall we were feeling great. I was able to temporarily forget my abhorrence for the Michigan weather. That is until Wednesday when I had to drop off Leo at the airport for his interview at Merck, NJ. MI weather chose the precise moment I started the car, to rear its ugly head. It started pouring and I was drenched by the time I filled the tank at the gas station. I cursed myself for not having filled it before. Then on the drive, the rain drove me nuts, literally covering the windshield and all windows with a thick sheet of thundering water. There were moments when visibility was nil and I could not decide if I should pull over and risk driving off the edge of the road or keep driving and risk hitting someone in front or slow down and get hit by someone from the rear. Trust me, 275 South is not the freeway where you want to be in this situation. Finally we both made it on time and Leo rushed into the airport after a perfunctory peck on my cheek and a hasty "luv ya". Not surprisingly there was no rain on my drive back and parts of the road were even dry.... it was as if nothing had happened ... Sun was shining.... sky was blue...and there was no sign that the clouds had exploded on us just a few minutes back...it was as if the road and all of the outdoors were mocking my fury and frustration... this was Michigan after all - what was I expecting?

After spending an evening of solitude and saying the family prayers over the speaker phone [leo joined me from the hotel room in NJ] I decided to call my mom. Spent a good two hours on the phone with her - she said she had watched "The lake House" and liked it. Me was happy 'cause I was the only soul in my circle who seemed to be awfully fond of the movie. She is a great fan of Tom Hanks and I was surprized that she hadn't seen Forrest Gump. Recommended that she watch it but ended up narrating the entire story to her. Anyways I said good day to her and good night to myself and finally gave in to slumber.

This morning I was sitting in our living room which was completely bare of anything except for my university days' desk top computer, set on the floor. I was browsing for about 3 hours all the time surreptitiously watching the outside through our two large windows for signs of rain. I've got to go pick Leo up and I want to be prepared this time. Atleast mentally - there's nothing much you can do about it physically right? Anyways I was watching and saw that it was starting to snow!!! It would stop for five minutes and then start again with a gust of wind. At first they were just tiny flurries which would melt even before hitting the ground....I was slowly drawn to the window for a closer look and I stood there watching the first snow of the year for about 15 minutes. Slowly the flakes became larger - like the big fat ones - the kind that stay on the window sill for a few seconds before melting into nothingness...and incredibly I caught myself wishing that it would snow heavier so that the green of our golf course view would turn a pristine white. And then as a slow smile pulled at my cheeks, the realization hit me: MI winter is not so detestable after all :-)