Ice and Snow by @fragmented_imagination (B Sanders)

Hyousetsu ni
Umareta ore wa
Mawari o mi
Kyoufu wakarazu
Yaru beki koto o

"I, born in
"Ice and snow,
"Look around
"And, without understanding the fear,
"Do the things that I must do."

"Snowmageddon", they called this year. Bah.
One thing that's always irritated me is hearing people overreacting to winter weather. I can certainly understand people being caught off-guard because they've never dealt with winter weather before. It's when an area has been hit by winter weather several times in the past year when I get irritated. Perhaps I am too used to the cold weather, having been born in the north and lived many years in areas where snow tends to fall heavy. But, where I am now, no one should really be a stranger to cold snaps and ice storms. And it bothers me that people will go as far as to call an incoming winter storm as "snowmageddon" as if they don't expect anyone to survive. This should not be unfamiliar territory, especially since the electric companies in the area have already prepared the lines for this sort of weather (we had 200 outages total) and the news is advising again and again how to maintain water flow to homes during nearly zero-degree (Fahrenheit) weather. Yet people in my area panicked and started using the word as if they knew something no one else did.

This, unfortunately, is my inspiration. I really don't understand how people can live in a place that is prone to nasty winter weather and act like every day below freezing means the end of the world. By all means, at least have the sense to maintain shelter indoors so there's no risk of an accident. If you have to go out, bundle up and drive safe. But you cannot just act like it's the end of the world because of weather that happens again and again every year. It is never different, and it really should not be that unusual because I live in a tornado zone.

But, I think this rant is over. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and hope to see more great art next year.

© 2022 B Sanders