not quite spring, yet

After my last post, the Midwest was hit with an enormous winter storm. I personally was hit at the same time with a virus somewhere midway on the cold to flu spectrum. As I laid on the couch all day feeling wretched, I heard the sleet hitting the window. Later that night (too miserable to sleep) I could see the snow drifting in the street. Now, almost 2 weeks later, the remnants of each event are still evident. Piles of dirty snow still block the sidewalks and a naggng cough still disrupts my routine. But spring can't be too far away.

Snow Zone

There's another big winter storm in the forecast...and the TV weather people have assumed their battle positions. Last week, we received barely 5 inches of snow and it was an EMERGENCY. The TV station even pre-empted Oprah to tell us over and over that it was SNOWING!!! It is true that Indianapolis has some low-skilled drivers when it comes to coping with snow. A mere dusting can turn the city into traffic gridlock. You would think, seeing as how this is a northern state, snow would be expected. It snows just often enough here to cause chaos but not often enough so that people get used to it.

Personally, I like snow. I grew up in the northern part of the state, in the Lake Michigan Snow Zone. I took a job in northern Michigan primarily for the cross-country skiing opportunities in the region. Although the job was short-lived, I had a great time enjoying the abundant snowfall in the area. My idea of a great winter day is to go cross-country skiing on wooded trails or ride my snowboard down a small hill in soft snow (no mountain downhill resorts for me). The part of winter that I don't like is taking 3 times longer than normal to get home from work because of all the bad drivers on the road.