We Never Saw It Coming

By Marcos Perales | Big Stick Editor |

 

I did not think the weather would be like this for another few years. The weather channel was on in my house and I did not believe a word. I was sitting in my room hanging out when all of a sudden, my friends started sending me pictures of them outside in their front and back yards around 11:30 last night. My family didn’t even tell me what was happening until I went outside to see for myself. Then, I immediately retreated inside to put on a coat. The snow came down pretty hard every time the wind blew and before we knew it, we couldn’t see the grass anymore.

People were outside all over my neighborhood, some in their yards, some in the middle of the road with cars honking at them. No one could tell where the sidewalk was, nor their own grass. For a moment, the streets got loud because of all the excitement. Since San Antonio is known for never getting snow, I could tell no one really knew what to do. Everyone went back inside because it was too cold plus it was getting really late. Also I’ve never seen the cars slide so much as they were driving by.

This is not the first time I’ve felt the cold weather this intense. I took a trip to visit my aunt and uncle in New Jersey right before t

he pandemic started. We explored a lot of the east coast while I was there and it was super cold everywhere. Unfortunately, it started snowing as I was getting ready to go back home. I got to experience a little bit of snow but not that much. This was really the only time I got to really experience the snow.

There are so many stories across town now. My initial reaction to the snow was to enjoy it with my family. We had snow ball fights, took pictures, made a snowman, and all of that. I started hearing more stories about how people dealt with the weather in their own way. People died, some didn’t have power for days, my cousin got really sick but it wasn’t covid like everyone was worried about. I started to feel guilty when I heard of such stories. That is why I stopped going out in the snow so much, knowing that not everyone was having a good time.

I think people in San Antonio are just in shock. This weather never happens around these parts. I saw the Alamo on the news and I saw a lot of people express their opinions about how the famous San Antonio landmarks being covered in snow was like. For a second, I forgot about the pandemic, but then I realized that they should all be wearing masks and staying apart. I really think people should have thought everything through before they went out like that. Power is going out all over the place. I have a friend whose power has been out for a little more than 12 hours. Everyone experienced this weather event differently. On my part, I’m really glad it happened.