Snow falls in Utah

We got our first official snowfall of the year today. I love snow. If I don't have to leave the safety of my home. I can drive perfectly well in the snow. It's the other idiot drivers on the road I worry about. I often tell my children to be careful when they are traveling, whether by bicycle or car or even walking, not because I think they might be careless (although, watching Luke zip thru traffic on his bike freaks me out) but, because other people can be careless. In the days of increased traffic on the roads and people who insist on either texting or talking on their phones while driving, it is far less safe than it was back when I was zipping thru traffic on my own beautiful blue ten-speed.
Just the other day, when I was commuting to work, I noticed a man merging onto the freeway in his car. He was talking on his phone (it was in his left hand blocking his view of the freeway he was merging onto) and I could tell he was going to head right into my lane...where I would be in his way in my car. In his back seat were two dogs. One of the dogs, a German shepherd who I could only see the top of his head to his muzzle, was peering out the window on the rear driver's side. As the driver headed into my lane and, directly into my car with nary a turn signal activated to alert me, I wailed on my horn. He swerved back into the lane he was trying to leave without even giving me a courtesy "oops" and, in the process, his poor canine passenger went slamming into the window he was trying to enjoy the view from. The driver continued on his way, never even interrupting his conversation.
So, this is why I dread being on the road when it snows. Two days ago, when that driver nearly took me out of the human equation, it was a lovely sunny day. Imagine what he could have accomplished in the snow.
I drove to the local "Trax" station and commuted safely to work via public transportation. I'm not a complete idiot.
As I left work tonight, at first I was walking quickly to avoid getting wet by the continual snowfall. Then I looked up. One of my favorite things about snow is nighttime. Have you ever noticed at night how quiet it is when there is snow on the ground. The world is muffled. Even when I was young I loved to play in the snow at night. I remember coming back from the family trip to Hawaii one Christmas. We were stuck in the airport in Hawaii for several hours because there had been snow in Seattle and they had trouble allowing us to land in the airport. When we finally got back home, I had been up several hours already. But it was nighttime and there was snow everywhere. One of the heaviest snowfalls I can remember in my youth. My next door neighbors and I grabbed our sleds (which were rarely used in Washington) and spent the entire night sledding. Roads were empty of cars and full of snow. It was amazing.
So, tonight I walked out of my hotel and suddenly noticed the snow coming down around me. I could see it in the streetlights and neon of the hotels and office buildings illuminating the flakes as they fell. For one brief moment I was young again and felt that same wonder. I paused my steps and looked around. And smiled. It wasn't too cold as everyone who came into the hotel had been complaining about. It was perfect. Not quite enough snow on the ground yet to cause that complete peace of a heavy snowfall but, beautiful just the same. I walked the rest of the block to the Trax station much slower and enjoyed the white world around me.
Of course, now I have to commute back home from the Trax station. I hope those idiots are all safely tucked in their beds...