Eyeing the benefits of May snow

May snow is never welcome, even by me — and I love snow.

There comes a time when you need to move on and put away your boots. Here in Atlantic Canada, we don't often get through the month without some of the white stuff. Other than to complain about it, there's not much we can do.

When I posted my Monday morning forecast with a snowfall totals map, there were a few gripes, but I also found a couple of comments that made me smile and brought back memories:

Kelly Neville Skinner: “Grandma said snow in May is good for your eyes.”

Germaine Doiron Chevarie: “My Granma and Mom saved May melted snow in case of pink eye.”

Grandma did the very same thing! She anxiously awaited a May snowfall, especially if there was enough to cover the ground. Out she went. Grandma would collect the snow in a jar and let it melt. She believed the May snow was medicinal. I've witnessed Grandma swab the May water on a stye on an eye to make it feel better. I don't recall if it successfully removed the stye.

Grandma also believed the May water would remove freckles. My younger brother Ronnie hated his freckles and tried to wash them away. He is still quite freckled! Personally, I love freckles and would never do anything to remove them.

Some of us will be given the opportunity to test the theory. An offshore system will brush the Atlantic coast with some wet snow Thursday night then head to Newfoundland on Friday. The next system will race across the region Saturday with rain and wind; snow will follow.

I don't have any proof that the May snow turned to May water has any medicinal properties but I now believe Grandma was the very best at turning an unpleasant situation — like snow in May — into a fun time!

May snow may not be good for the soul, but it's good for the eyes, Grandma says!

On May 10, 1972, a powerful storm barrelled across the region, setting all kinds of snowfall records in Atlantic Canada. Janine Angela Musolino Sanford shares this amazing montage from her family photo album. In it, you'll find her grandparents Harold and Iris Johnson, and in the bottom left photo her greatgrandfather Gerald A. Hatter shovelling snow at the corner of Isleville Street and Stairs Place in Halifax.