CanisLupusArctos
12-25-2007, 09:58 PM
Thought you all might enjoy this re-write I did, of "The Night Before Christmas." This is "The Night Before Snowfall." Merry Christmas!
‘Twas the night before snowfall and all through the station
All forecasters were stirring with lots of frustration
The storm flag was flown by the lighthouse with dare
Since high tides and whitecaps soon would be there
The radar was lively; showed a wintry scene
As echoes of heavy snow shone on the screen
Bob took off his sweatshirt and I loosened my tie
We’d just come on shift with a long drawn-out sigh
When up on the roof, there arose such a whooshing
I sprung from my desk to see what was pushing
Away up the ladder I flew in a dash
Threw open the hatch with a clattering crash
The lights on a curtain of wind-driven snow
Gave the hue of a milkshake to buildings below
And what to my shivering self should come up
But a bitter cold storm gust, spinning wind cups
With the barometer falling so rapidly fast
We knew in a moment, this was not like storms past
More quickly than reindeer, winter storm warnings came
And weathermen called affected places by name:
“From Concord to Portland, and Boston on through,
To Falmouth, Hyannis, and Nantucket too!”
At the top of New England, the Mount Washington Obs.,
They’re blown away, yes, by this storm they’ve been robbed!
Their anemometer had spun in the whiteout that blew
Then met with such high gusts, off the mountain it flew
So down the main roads the highway crews plowed
With trucks full of salt-sand, amber strobelight-endowed
And behind them, in a splatting I heard in the street:
Each tiny snowflake land with a beat
As I plotted a map, with new info I’d found
Up the coast the low pressure soon would be bound
The satellite picture showed wall-to-wall clouds
While the eye of the storm neared, the wind howled loud
Snow began to accumulate at a more rapid pace
Severe blowing and drifting were soon taking place
All our technology and humanly might
Was virtually useless that cold snowy night
Power crews waited ‘till the storm was all done
As each square in their service grid went out one by one
City mayors announced, “Don’t park here; you’ll get towed”
As the blizzard got worse than TV forecasts showed
Stranded air travelers weren’t having much fun
A girl bound for Cali said, “I just want the sun.”
It wasn’t ‘til daybreak that the storm winded down
Everyone got to sleep late, everyone in my town
They’d closed all the schools, said to stay home from work
Said: “Stay put everyone, except convenience store clerks”
And taking a shovel outside to the yard
I saw schoolkids playing, heard snowblowers afar
The neighbor’s kid laughed, to his friends gave a holler,
Said, “Put your tongue on that light pole, and I’ll give you a dollar!”
My boy just exclaimed as he dug a snow cave:
“Dad these snowstorms are awesome, I love winter!” he raved.
‘Twas the night before snowfall and all through the station
All forecasters were stirring with lots of frustration
The storm flag was flown by the lighthouse with dare
Since high tides and whitecaps soon would be there
The radar was lively; showed a wintry scene
As echoes of heavy snow shone on the screen
Bob took off his sweatshirt and I loosened my tie
We’d just come on shift with a long drawn-out sigh
When up on the roof, there arose such a whooshing
I sprung from my desk to see what was pushing
Away up the ladder I flew in a dash
Threw open the hatch with a clattering crash
The lights on a curtain of wind-driven snow
Gave the hue of a milkshake to buildings below
And what to my shivering self should come up
But a bitter cold storm gust, spinning wind cups
With the barometer falling so rapidly fast
We knew in a moment, this was not like storms past
More quickly than reindeer, winter storm warnings came
And weathermen called affected places by name:
“From Concord to Portland, and Boston on through,
To Falmouth, Hyannis, and Nantucket too!”
At the top of New England, the Mount Washington Obs.,
They’re blown away, yes, by this storm they’ve been robbed!
Their anemometer had spun in the whiteout that blew
Then met with such high gusts, off the mountain it flew
So down the main roads the highway crews plowed
With trucks full of salt-sand, amber strobelight-endowed
And behind them, in a splatting I heard in the street:
Each tiny snowflake land with a beat
As I plotted a map, with new info I’d found
Up the coast the low pressure soon would be bound
The satellite picture showed wall-to-wall clouds
While the eye of the storm neared, the wind howled loud
Snow began to accumulate at a more rapid pace
Severe blowing and drifting were soon taking place
All our technology and humanly might
Was virtually useless that cold snowy night
Power crews waited ‘till the storm was all done
As each square in their service grid went out one by one
City mayors announced, “Don’t park here; you’ll get towed”
As the blizzard got worse than TV forecasts showed
Stranded air travelers weren’t having much fun
A girl bound for Cali said, “I just want the sun.”
It wasn’t ‘til daybreak that the storm winded down
Everyone got to sleep late, everyone in my town
They’d closed all the schools, said to stay home from work
Said: “Stay put everyone, except convenience store clerks”
And taking a shovel outside to the yard
I saw schoolkids playing, heard snowblowers afar
The neighbor’s kid laughed, to his friends gave a holler,
Said, “Put your tongue on that light pole, and I’ll give you a dollar!”
My boy just exclaimed as he dug a snow cave:
“Dad these snowstorms are awesome, I love winter!” he raved.