It is a fact that most Southerners don’t know how to deal with snow and ice. The reason is simple enough, we don’t experience it very often. In fact there are long periods of time in the South where you’d need a calendar to tell the season you’re supposed to be in. And most of us like it that way. Our Northern brethren, however, love to give us grief about not being able to drive in those conditions or deal with weather they navigate on a regular basis during the winter months.

We are not temperamentally or practically prepared to deal with impassible roads or prolonged and severely cold temperatures. We don’t keep snow chains and shovels or salt on hand like a family staple. But when the cold weather visits, when everything shuts down for a day or so, we are in a unique position to enjoy our winter wonderland with and to some extent like the children we let out of school. Businesses close, families collect and explore suddenly exotic backyards, glittering and bright. We are blessed with a snow day for almost everyone, except those people (and God bless them) who brave the worst of it to keep the rest of us safe and with power to heat and light our homes.

When the first bout of freezing temperatures hit our area and schools closed I didn’t really understand the fuss. Then my mother-in-law, who is a former teacher, told me that she was glad to see it, that it was too cold for children who had to wait at the bus stops in the cold early hours of morning, many of them without the heavy winter coats, lacking in a climate rarely in need of them. And that’s before you get to the road hazards, the slick ice patches and drivers making their way handicapped by dangerous, warm weather habits.

Enlightened, I changed my mind. I was glad to see the school board err on the side of caution, to exercise wisdom in looking out for our youngest citizens.

As the storm began to hit us, I was, similarly, at first reluctant to close the library and send everyone home for a couple of days, but then I thought about the school board’s caution and I understood the need for everyone, patron and staff alike, to be cautious and remain safe. Thankfully, many patrons preparing for the winter storm had already come in and checked out their books and DVDs to keep them busy while possibly being housebound for a day or two or three. If the library helped you pass the time not spent trundling around in your galoshes (or for the less prepared, waders) scarfs and coats then those of us who look forward to seeing you afterward will be happy to have been a part of it with you.

Well, if you’re reading this the storm has passed, the warmer weather is here again and life in the more familiar sense has returned to us. The rare glimpse into another sort of life is over and our seasonal weather equivalent of a Jubilee is the stuff of photographs and stories. A few lustrous days of winter to tuck away in our memories. I hope they were wonderful ones for everyone. See you at the library.

Joanna Bailey is the director of the Bay Minette Public Library. She can be reached at baileyvolumes@gmail.com