“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

• Charles Dudley Warner

This past winter held on and on, it would not release the icy cold grip it has on this Great Lake region. It was a long cold snowy winter, a winter I did not enjoy. I longed for the winter of my childhood, and sledding from window down the snowdrift and into the yard. A winter of no school so often it becomes the normal that you love as a kid. A winter of money made from shoveling out every old person in the neighborhood. A winter that perfected your triple lindy on the sled. But wait that is not the winter I had.

I had a winter of a truck that would not keep traction because the roads were frozen solid and ice covered. A winter of chest palpitations from shoveling. A winter of so many layers that my layers had layers just to keep warm. A winter of high electric rates. A winter of Natural Gas bills so high, I thank God that my buddy and I put in that new furnace. A winter of giving up on trying to keep the sidewalks clear. A winter of no kids wanting to shovel because it was so cold. A winter of me owing someone or multiple someones beer for keeping my driveway plowed. A winter of wishing we had a wood burner in the basement still. A winter of complete appreciation for my waterbed turned all the way up. And I could go on and on.

This photo was taken on April 14th, I mean tax day is literally upon us and it was snowing so hard you can hardly make out the trees behind the auger. There is like a forest of trees back there, honest. No Photoshop work, just quite a bit of snow. Now I will say this, it barely stuck, I mean it was wet and packable and I refused to shovel and it was mostly gone the next day. But it was still snowing so hard you could not see very far. It still made travel slippery and treacherous and hard to navigate. And yes I said no to shoveling, I have a new rule, after November 1st I will shovel, and after March 1st I will not shovel. A total of eight months of shovel free bliss, because in those eight months if God puts it there, God can take it away. Enjoy or Not depending on your love of winter weather!