Last night we watched as a gentle snow fell here in Fayetteville. Just a couple of days ago, John and I took a walk in 66 degree weather. It’s now somewhere in the high 20s. Such is the unpredictability of North Carolina’s climate.

After a long day of filling out tax receipts for our ministry yesterday, Prit and I went to grab a bite to eat at the Chick-Fil-A only to find it had already closed. Long before snowflakes had even begun to fall, schools, banks, clinics, and restaurants had already shut down. I do imagine I heard a chuckle coming down from our friends in the great white North. One Canadian pastor told me once, “We love a good blizzard!” I’m sure he and many others got a good laugh at all the scurrying about of their Southern friends as they loaded up on groceries and settled into their warm homes for the night.

Still, there’s almost something magical about the fairy dust. It’s like a dear friend who pays us a rare visit once in a while. Memories of my mother making snow cream for us carry me off to an era long ago. There are few things as beautiful as gazing out the window at a blanket of white that covers the landscape. It seems to make everything new.

This afternoon, the roads were cleared and we did manage to get to the Golden Corral with Prit’s mom and dad. The lady that rang up our ticket was from Cap-Haitian, Haiti. She has lived in the States for 21 years which means she left Haiti during the embargo. As my mind turned to Cap-Haitian, I was reminded of warm tropical breezes, a front door which stays open, and where flip flops are the norm. I also thought of my Haitian friends who have never seen snow in their whole lives and realized that we have the best of both worlds.