One thing that I frequently encountered on my trip to the sunnier and warmer regions to the west, was a sense of weather superiority.

Family and friends would brag about the temperatures and the sunny days, as if I should be relieved and lucky to escape the snow and cold.  Admittedly, the reason I took the trip in mid-winter was to take a break from the wind.  (The local weather statistics keeper wrote that January had 23 days of winds over 40 MPH.) But, over time, I’ve largely become indifferent to the wind (especially this winter with the purchase of some new outerwear).

I had the impression they thought I was suffering living here in winter.   I’m not.  I love the snow.  I love to watch it fall.  I love to put on my snow boots or snowshoes and go into the forests.  I love the way snow erases the details of the landscape, making it all smooth and new, like taking an Etch-a-Sketch and turning it over.

And one countered, “well, that’s because you don’t have to drive in it on a daily basis.”  That’s not true either.  I don’t mind driving in it.  I do mind when everybody else is driving in it at the same time.  And again, it’s not winter and snow that makes it bad, it’s the traffic.  I love driving on snowy backroads because there is no traffic to deal with. My car/suv/tires handles the snow and ice very very well.  I argue that sitting in traffic in the middle of summer is just as aggravating.

Winter here is not suffering.  It’s just different.  When I go outside, I put on a coat.  Instead of wearing shorts and tennis shoes, I put on long underwear, long pants and boots.

Really the only thing about winter I don’t like are the holidays.  I think that would be the case regardless of where I lived.

One of the Forest Lakes and the Continental Divide