Portsmouth man hoards snow to mark milestones

PORTSMOUTH

Tom Leary pulled a small plastic bag out of his freezer and read the label aloud: "Our First Good Snow."

It contains a handful of - obviously - snow, the first that fell after his wedding in early 2010.

"It's our first snow together," he said.

The Portsmouth resident pulled out another bag. "This is thunder snow from 2005," he said. "We had a thunderstorm come through, and it was all snow, no rain."

He pulled out two icicles, snapped off his house in December. "It's a defrost freezer, so they're starting to get a little worn down," Leary said. "They're evaporating."

And then, in the bottom of the freezer, he reached the mother lode - a white trash bag filled with snow from last year's Christmas storm. He picked up a handful and let the white crystals run through his fingers. The bag is labeled "My Best Birthday Snow Ever."

Leary's birthday is Dec. 27. The snow that started falling on Christmas Day piled up to an official 13 inches in Hampton Roads. At Leary's house, it remained on the ground until Feb. 21 of this year, because he shoveled up a pile in the shade of his garage and covered it with a tarp. And in his freezer, it has lasted until this summer, which has seen sweltering heat and humidity and a record high temperature last week.

"Even Tidewater can have snow in July if you go about it the right way," he said. "It makes you think cool thoughts in the middle of July."

Leary loves to ski. He loves to drive in the snow. He loves the white stuff because he is a geology enthusiast, and water is really a mineral frozen in crystalline form.

But he also likes to catch and eat spot, and once the freezer starts filling up with frozen fish, the snow will have to go.

But not yet.

"I really am a snow fanatic," Leary said. "When other people are cursing the weather, I drive carefully and give thanks for such a wonderful transformation of the land. Snow is good clean fun!"

Which makes him, of course, the coolest guy in town.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com