RollTide18
Member
I know theres like a .5% chance of seeing a flake but I would like to see something lol
I bought my sled at that hardware store on the corner across from the old Varsity on CheshireBridge, probably in 70. They used to hang them on the outside wall whenever Guy Sharpe said it might snow, lol. It has brought me as much pleasure as most anything in my life, but only on the rare occasion. The conditions have to be right. It's a FlexiFlyer design and a long body. You can steer it with the handles, and your feet. Your legs are on the platform, with your shins and feet off the side if you need to steer, so it's easy to make sharp turns dragging your foot, because your torso, and most of your leg is supported. You can go places only the most intrepid go, because you have control. Down Amsterdam at 25 mph, or so, with cars on both sides whipping by at light speed, and your eyes streaming tears so you can't see a thing. You rattle and bounce, right at the edge of madness, and it exhilarates you to a manic state. Face first into the worm hole with your chin bouncing 6 inches off the ice. It's like grunge luge. It's big enough for two, and sturdy enough. Makes you go infinitely faster, but right at the edge of out of control. It has tiny steel runners, so snow is worthless. YOu just sink in and hit soil, unless there has been some zrain, or sleet too. But sleet is best....the next night, after the hard freeze has made it a sheet, and the cars trying to go up the hill haven't fazed it. Those runners are made for ice, and sleet makes it fly. And the city, or county roads are the track. We went down Amsterdam, in midtown, from the top, in view of the post office, all the way down past devils dive. It was in the late 70's, around 4 inches of sleet. I could drive at LeMans, leap off the Eiger in a wing suit, but I can't see how it could beat that night. That sled became legend, and icon for the oppressed sleet lovers in the deep south. It earned it's purchase price a thousand times over on that fabled night, and subsequent, though very sparse nights. Oh, people laughed, they asked "when will you use it? It's the south, it never snows". Snickering. But it's not snow the lonely rider wants...it's to once again hear the spattering in the leaves announcing, perhaps, another chance to soar with the polar bears, and enter sleet nirvana on wings of speed!!! A phantom on the midnight winds....the Sleet Dancer.My sled is like my 401k. It ain't about the immediate returns. We are talking LONG term investment here!
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So now I know where tony' s love of sleet comes from. It's all about the sled !
It sounds like that's the case, but I think he still would love it otherwise. To him there seems to be something wonderfully magical and perfectly wintry about it. From it not at all being shy by announcing its presence via loud sounds to it bouncing when it hits to knowing it has staying power and will likely be around for awhile, to him sleet is the King of precip. I'm confident that would still be the case if he didn't have a sled.
The great ATL winter storm of 2/17-8/1979 was quite a turning point in my life. After seeing the beautiful flakes change to little pellets within an hour of the start, I became depressed. It was supposed to snow for a longer period. Also, I figured the sleet would hardly accumulate. Boy was I to be proven wrong.
As time went along and the sleet continued to fall the rest of the evening, it started accumulating noticeably. There was actually a white sleetcover! It kind of looked like snowcover. Also, I was starting to really enjoy the sounds of sleet. I was actually starting to take a liking to the sleet. Whereas I earlier was hoping for a change back to snow, I now was content and rooting for the sleet to continue. I was not the same person I was just a few hours earlier. I had trouble going to sleep during all of this excitement. I wanted to keep watching it accumulate and hear it hit the ground. Up to 1". Up to 1.5". Atlanta was being taken over by the sleet monster and it gave me butterflies. I finally went to sleep but then woke up to a peasant surprise: it was still sleeting and with much more of it potentially falling. Up to 2.5". 3". 3.5". And yes, a whopping 4" of beautiful sleet!!!! Moreover, the sleet had staying power unlike any snow I had ever seen. After this great experience, I never again rooted against sleet and became an official sleetlover though I was and still am also a snowlover.
Well, that's my sleet story and I'm sticking to it. I'm sure many folks have a good sleet story or two.
Winter cancel. Winter (marginally) back on, Tennessee smiles when the King favors and all of a sudden I am rooting for a massive southern sleet storm.So what have I missed over the last 24 hours
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Sounds like a normal January on the boardWinter cancel. Winter (marginally) back on, Tennessee smiles when the King favors and all of a sudden I am rooting for a massive southern sleet storm.
Gotta love Accuweather's 100km blob maps. lolsunday/sun night snow
Chasing clipper flurries! Shows how bad this winter has been and will continue to be! Look to torch or be atleast above normal for most of Feb. just not our year! Look for most to average +6 to + 8! Hard to believe this winter will end up +15 to +20 for DJF, for a few cities in the South! Backloaded and Frontloaded , with warmth!