Do you remember this song from the movie “White Christmas”? Singing were Bing Crosby and three others on the train heading to an inn in New England where, unfortunately, the snow had yet to appear that winter. As I listened to the weather forecast for this weekend that song came to mind.

We live a short distance southwest of St. Louis and the forecast called for all types of winter weather – snow, sleet, freezing rain, high winds, and low temperatures. In our case, we were expected to be on the line between snow and ice. The forecasters were pretty accurate. The bad weather started with light sleet or freezing rain which began around 10:00 PM, Saturday evening. This lasted until mid-day Sunday when the snow moved in and was mixed with the sleet until early evening. Then the heavier snow arrived and continued until early Monday morning. Driving became dangerous throughout the area beginning Sunday morning and continues even today.

Sunday evening before the heavier snow began, I looked out our rear window and saw two deer run across our backyard. It was dark enough that I really saw only the shadowed outline of their bodies and the bright white flash of their tails. This made me wonder, “How do these wild creatures – deer, squirrels, rabbits, and birds – survive the cold temperatures? If we didn’t have our warm homes, could we humans survive as well?”. It se seems that wildlife can survive, perhaps in nests or other sheltered places. Perhaps, they survive by clustering in groups to share warmth. Or maybe they simply know locations that offer some form of protection. They must because otherwise how could they survive – yet they do. They survive fire and drought, snow and ice, hurricanes and tornados. If they didn’t, we would have no wildlife today.

In this world we live. Humans, the supposed most intelligent species. Humans with technology and science and knowledgeable people who can help us stay safe and survive. But instead of using these tools, we select instead to pay little or no attention to warnings from warnings we are given to avoid travel and stay off the road. We seem to think that driving to the store to pick up a loaf of bread or a six-pack is more important than our safety or that of others, like our first responders. But perhaps we can’t survive without these items. So, we ignore others and try – maybe just to prove we are superior or smarter than those trying to protect us.

Maybe we do survive without problem but often we don’t. We wreck our cars – get hurt or harm others or get lucky and only get stranded. Then what do we do? Do we take responsibility for our actions, or do we do as a person I read about today. This person ignored all the advice and warnings, drove on unsafe roads, and became stranded when stuck in the snow. Their response – claims that there were no warnings (even though warnings were issued days before the storms) and complaints about how long it took first responders to rescue them. They were not injured, or injure others, yet they should have been placed at the top of the rescue list so they wouldn’t get cold. I know I should not judge others but using a quote from a popular movie, “Stupid is as stupid does!”.

This simply, sometimes, makes me wonder, “Who best deserves to survive, our wildlife friends or those who regularly take actions like the above?”