When my girlfriend made the travel reservation to come visit me over the holiday break in my hometown of Spokane she had one request: She wanted to see snow. Having lived in South Carolina her whole life she had never seen a meaningful accumulation of snow before. When she booked the trip a few weeks beforehand I pretty much guaranteed that there would be white stuff on the ground during her stay in Washington state. This wasn’t an empty promise on my part, for as long as I can remember Spokane has always had snow (usually a lot) throughout December. But as it would turn out I was going to sweat a little bit.

I arrived home on Sunday, December 21, to a clear ground. It didn’t bother me at the time because I hate snow. Just as long as it snowed five days later when Sidney arrived it would all be good. But as those days passed without any snow precipitation I started to worry a bit. In that span I would have liked to see a flurry or light dusting to let me know that it still had the capability to snow in Spokane. For the first time in a long time, we didn’t have a white Christmas. With one day to go before Sidney’s arrival I was concerned that she wouldn’t experience one of the things she traveled so far to see.

On the morning of December 26 small snowflakes started to fall from the sky. It was promising but it would need to do a lot more to make an impact on the ground. Sidney arrived at 11:30 p.m. that night and when we picked her up at the airport there was no accumulation. It was dark and she was tired so I knew I would get a pass on this night. However, the next day I needed to see a nice white blanket outside my parents’ oversized living room window.

When I picked up Sid at the airport there was no snow on the ground.

It is funny how sometimes things happen right when they are supposed to. When I woke up on Saturday (December 27), snowflakes danced in the sky. I could see that the snow was starting to stick. Sidney woke up about an hour later and saw the glorious sight out our window. Even though it hadn’t accumulated much by that time she still thought it was remarkable. She immediately Facetimed her niece and nephew in Myrtle Beach who had been hoping for snow as much as her.

Sidney at Camelot Park writing the names of her niece and nephew into the snow.

As a white blanket started to develop on the ground, Sidney and I walked through the park across the street from the house. She was very surprised that the snow was “crunchy” when she stepped on it. We threw snowballs, wrote in the snow, and even shoveled mass quantities into our mouths (I am lying about that last part). My parents then took us on a ride through some country on the side roads and she got to experience what it is like to drive in wintry weather.

Sidney and I enjoying the snow together.

Later that day Sidney got to experience the real fun stuff. She built a fine-looking snowman. She attempted to make one several years back when South Carolina received a freak mini snowfall but the poor snow person was made up of so much grass and dirt that it looked more like a swamp monster. She laid down in the snow and made a perfect snow angel. She then even participated in a full out snow ball fight! She was happy.

Sidney had a good time building a snowman (upper right hand corner is my brother helping her out) and making a snow angel.

Two days later and we still have snow from Saturday. The snowman is toppled over and the consistency of the snow is more icy than fluffy but Mother Nature came through. Making the snow showers on Saturday a little more remarkable was the fact my parents told me when we were driving around that afternoon. It had not snowed in Spokane the whole season until Saturday, my dad explained, an absolute anomaly for the area. And while I did give Mother Nature credit for bringing the desired weather pattern, I prefer to explain it in the words of Sidney’s mom. When Sid called up her parents and told them it snowed, her mother responded with this: “Brent definitely planned it.” I think so. Don’t Blink.