Snow in Cork

My heart ached for snow.

Seeing pictures and videos of snow back home in Pennsylvania was one of the few things that made me really, truly homesick during my time here in Cork.

It’s not like I grew up with a ton of snow. Snow is a luxury. Snow is a blessed blanket of missed school, hives (I am somehow allergic to cold), being cozy indoors, making snow forts, and walking…

The walks in the snow are my favorite, but you have to do them just right. There is a recipe. It should be the first night of snowfall. The snow should be heavy, with thick flakes falling softly – you don’t want to be pelted with tiny ice crystals. And then you wait until nightfall. You wait until everyone else settles into their houses and it feels like the whole world is resting. Then you go outside. And you walk.

Even thinking about those walks fills me with warmth. The whole world quiet. The snow muffles everything in such a way that I can’t help but fully relax. It is the coziest and coldest you can be all at once. It’s bliss.

 

I didn’t think I was going to get that this year, and then the biggest snowstorm in over 30 years hit Ireland. People had told me time and time again, “it never snows in Cork.”

I’ve never been so happy to have been lied to.

 

But let me tell you one thing: this country goes crazy in the snow. I have never seen so many snowmen, snowball fights, and people trying to sled on cardboard. I went on a walk to a park near my house, and it was like a scene from a children’s book. I didn’t realize that many people lived in Cork, yet there they were, walking dogs, feeding ducks, and just simply enjoying this rare pleasure.

Yeah, maybe the whole city shut down for 3 days. Okay, yes, I still can’t find some food in the grocery store because people literally bought out all of the bread, eggs, milk, etc. Sure, it became incredibly icy and then melted a day later. Whatever, climate change is believed to be the thing causing these freak weather events, so that can’t be good…

But there was snow. And as selfish as that may sound, I don’t really mind. I don’t mind because I saw such joy and wonder on people’s faces. The 10 ft snowmen told me that the people of Cork made it through. The beer coolers made of snow softened the blow.

And I got to take my nighttime snow walk in Ireland. What more could I want?