The much-maligned snow flake (alternate title: "I need to get out more")

I've been inside all day today and it has been snowing constantly. I keep looking out the window to where there is a big lump where my car used to be and thinking, "Dude, where's my car?"

This house-bound day has given me the opportunity to think more deeply about snow than I ever have before (which obviously isn't much). I started to think that snow is really just rain, with the difference being that it "sticks" and stays put when it hits the ground. It's really not the snow that people complain about, it's the way it piles up, gets in the way, and doesn't go away.

That got me thinking: I really feel sorry for the snowflake! Rain, by contrast, hits the ground and MAN, it's OUTTA there! It's immediately mobile and it's on its way to the ocean, thank you ma'am (you will also note that it is the puddles that people don't like about rain, not so much the rain itself.)

But snow is different. It's like the uninvited guest who finds himself at the party with no ride home. He has no choice but to stick around and have everyone ridicule him. Poor snow flakes.

Yes, I know, I need to GET OUT MORE. But indulge me, please.