The warm weather is back and people everywhere seem to be celebrating their ability to leave without a jacket and drive without four-wheel-drive.
Not that the winter was hard – by my count there was only one day where driving was dicey and it was never cold enough to even warrant a scarf.
I’m not inhuman – I enjoy walking out of the house with no extra protection and a warm breeze while biking or hiking a trail is one of my prime pleasures in life. But this celebration at what was essentially no winter seems strange to me.
I flat out missed Winter.
Ask any person who knows me and they’re happily tell you how crazy I am. Cold weather? Ice? Sleet? Who in their right mind likes those?
I challenge this idea and it’s not because I ski or snowboard (I don’t.) I live in Michigan. We get both barrels every season from our monsoons in Spring to our inferno heat in the Summer.
There are a lot of people who don’t even see snow.
Think back as far as you can. There is certainly a time when you had fun in the snow be it outdoor activities or just a simple snowball fight.
When I was a kid my neighbors and friends used to build snow forts in our respective yards and have snowball fights. As we grew older our prospects grew larger culminating with an eight foot failed attempt to build a staircase to a friend’s roof. We ended up hollowing the structure out to make an igloo – at least before we were banned from it due to parental safety concerns.
But building is only a fraction of what you can do with snow. Has it been so long since everyone has taken to a sled or seen the sun rise over a crisp fresh snowfall? Something as simple as icicles or an ice covered tree exhibits, to me, a unique beauty we would miss out on without Winter yet here we are in March 2012 without a proper snowfall.
Putting it basically, the thing people hat about winter is the inconvenience the cold brings, but these problems are easily avoided.
If it’s too cold put more on. If it’s slippery drive slower than the speed limit. If its cold in the house and bills are too high put on a sweater.
To contrast if it’s too hot you are limited to how much you can take off before the law gets involved. If your car seat is too hot, you’re waiting or moving the doors open and closed. If it gets too hot and your air conditioning isn’t up to the task, you’re out of luck.
I am under the belief that cold is better than warm, but that aside, don’t hate a season. Mourn our lack of Winter. Michigan doesn’t have much, but nature is something we have in spades.
Enjoy it for what it is and what it makes you – a Michigander. We’re rude about our driving ability and love hockey. How can we possibly hate a season that lets us embrace those?
If you hate the Winter, there are many other states you may find suitable. As for me, I’m heading North.