January 19, 2024

Coming to you from the dining room table again! The last two times I entered a post in this series the first thing I mentioned was snow. And guess what? It’s snowing. The kids are all home for another virtual school day, I think it’s our third of the school year. After getting pounded with snow round after snow round over the past couple of weeks, it’s coming at us again today. 

But I DO NOT MIND! We’ve had too many recent winters that have resulted in not-enough-snow and locals + visitors alike were starting to get discouraged. But if this winter season keeps up at this rate, I think we’ll all be very happy. Or at least those of us who enjoy the snow will be happy!

That’s one funny thing about living in what I call the #tundraofmaryland. We’re the snowiest part of the state and snowier than any of our PA and WV neighbors…with the exception of the Thomas/Davis/Canaan Valley area to the south of us in WV. Their elevation is a bit higher and they’re always getting more snow than we are. 

On wait, back to the funny thing…there are so many people that live here that don’t love the snow! Apparently Garrett County, MD has recorded snow in 11 of 12 months. We regularly see it in October and April, and as of the past few years, we see it in May, too. I guess the gloriousness of our mild summers outweighs all the snow for the snow-haters that live here. 

Or maybe it’s the people. Or the slower pace of life. There’s way more goodness here than just pretty winter wonderland scenes and perfect 75-degree temperatures in summer. I hear from my visiting clients often that “the people here are just so nice!” And if you know me, you know that when I go to Morgantown, WV (the closest “city”), I am always ready to get back here to Garrett County. There’s less traffic (often times NO traffic), buildings and businesses and houses aren’t stacked on top of each other, it’s easy to get around, we’re not overwhelmed or encouraged by a ton of commercial and consumerism activity. There’s a slower pace of life. 

I also believe in this thing called “The Deep Creek Effect.” People come here and they immediately fall in love. Not with a person, but a PLACE! This place, Deep Creek + Garrett County, has POWER! The power to bring people together…the power to put people at ease and allow them to get away while still feeling at home. So they come, they love it and they want to come back.

Former JFP couple Erica and Justin loved Deep Creek so much that they decided to have their wedding here (after visiting for family getaways and vacations) AND THEN decided to become the operators of their wedding venue. If that’s not a Deep Creek Effect, I don’t know what is! (Pulling this one of the archives, friends…here’s Erica and Justin’s wedding from 2016 at what is currently Red Barn Inn, a Deep Creek wedding venue I highly recommend.)

I’ve also had clients that visit Deep Creek once or twice and on their third visit, they’re either buying a place or looking at places to buy. WHAT!? Again, The Deep Creek Effect.

That reminds me, I had an idea once. That maybe there should be a Deep Creek coffee table book full of personal stories from people who love it here. Grandparents who bring their grandkids here for summer vacations, weekenders who come to boat and snow ski as much as they can, second homeowners who are building a life that includes getting away to our mountains, residents who choose this place for raising their families. I mean, I’ve got the pictures for it.

Alright, ending this series entry here. I’m taking snowy pictures for our neighbors in less than an hour and then I’m photographing a proposal at the lake…and it better be snowing like a Hallmark movie for both! What does Hallmark movie snow look like?