Snow + Mountains + Floridians = Panic

   Ah, a winter's day in the Smoky Mountains.  Our daughter and her partner are visiting from the Sunshine State.  They still live down there because they refused to come with us the night we scaled the fence and escaped.  Susan's son and our grandson Noah came along for the visit with the exuberant desire to see real snow for the first time.
   The weather graciously complied with Noah's wishes and snow is in the forecast.  The dilemma is that Susan and Lisa want to spend all day and night Saturday in nearby Asheville, leaving us some valuable time with Noah.  That may not sound like a dilemma unless you remember my mention of our five-story driveway and home perched on the side of a mountain.  These flatlanders panicked the first, second, and third time they negotiated the steep grade up to this house, and although they love the view, they just can't understand our preference for this kind of elevation.  
   This coming "storm" is one of those snow events that just does not allow an accurate prediction.  With the terrain here and to our northwest, the precipitation will break and split and then reform again.  Some places will get significant accumulations, while just miles away it will be dry.  It really will depend on the fortuity of your homestead.  Those of us with a few years experience don't fear the 24/7 weather warnings.  It is only snow!
   Well, these Floridians who abide year-round humidity and dodge the yearly tropical storms, are scared to the point of humor over, "Will we be able to get down?" and "How will we ever get back up?"  We who live here know that snowfall is always a short-term event, and if you can't get down or up a mountain you just wait a few hours and it will clear.

    But with jobs and school and their prospering business, Tide the Knot, they can't fathom the idea of slowing their pace and letting a little time elapse.  Waiting is just not an option they wish to consider.
    This winter we have had visits from three different parties still imprisoned on the great retirement peninsula and a couple from Hawaii; this is the first "inclement" weather that threatened our warm weather friends.  Hey, it's February in the mountains!  We really do have a winter, but it's livable, beautiful, relaxed, and fun.  We chose the Waynesville area because we love it.  If you don't like winter, there are three other seasons you can visit.