As we all know, this winter has been very cold and harsh. Many people say that it hasn't been this bad since 1978 where it was just awful. However, I hate this winter and I really want it to end. The cold, the massive amounts of snow, everything has just been terrible.
Now, I realize that some of you may like winter and may have some objections to make against me, so it is my job to silence them. Some of you may say that the huge amounts of snow are fun to play in. Yes, giant mounds of snow are fun, but its not fun to go outside when it is 3 degrees with a wind-chill of -12. It has been freezing cold the past couple of days and it is not fun. You can't enjoy the snow because its so cold.
People may also say that this winter has been great because of the snow days. While the first two we got at the beginning of the year were okay, these past four haven't been the best. The main reason is that I couldn't sleep in on those days. On Thursday and Friday, I had to clear the driveway so that my mom could go to work and on Monday, she got stuck getting out of the driveway, so I had to get up early again and help her out and then clear the driveway. Not fun.
This finally leads me to the downside of this huge amount of snow; driving. To start, its very hard to drive with snow and ice on the ground if you don't have a four wheel drive. There's also the stupid plows who, once they go by, leave a huge mound of snow at the foot of the driveway. Because of this, I had to help my mom get out of it early in the morning and then again when my dad's car got stuck.
In conclusion, I hate this winter and after reading this post, all of you should as well. I wish spring would come sooner or all the snow would melt or something. The only upside to this is that we're experiencing the true seasons of Michigan; winter, still winter, almost winter, and construction.
I would agree with you that this winter has been a bit harsher than is convenient. But not all of it can be blamed on the season of winter. At least some of it should be contributed to the fact that we live very close to a massive lake, Lake Michigan. A big reason that we haven't had school and that it has seemed so cold outside is that there have been a lot of days with wind over 30 miles per hour. From what I have noticed, most wind has been coming from the west. Based on my understanding of wind and thermals, this wind is coming from the lake because the sun warms up the air on land more than it warms up the air on the water. This causes the air on land to rise upwards and the cold water air fills in the rising air and causes extreme wind. This also contributes to why peoples driveways have been so full of snow. While there has been a lot of snow, our problem is not that it is snowing a lot, it is just that the snow we have is not melting because it is about 10 degrees or less all the time. the wind is what is causing problems for us. The wind is blowing all of the snow back into our driveways and roads causing the problems. It is part of where we live. While the cold of winter is part of our problem, winter is not 100% to blame. We live in a place that is windy year round. That is what makes this area such an attraction to sailors. Don't hate the season, hate the wind (or just enjoy that we live in a place that has some change in seasons)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to take a moment to defend the winter that you so despise. Winter is a fact of life in western Michigan. We should learn to deal with it. Snow days are wonderful. Even if you don't get sufficient sleep at night, you still have the rest of the day to sleep. It is only for a few days each year that we have the opportunity to sit inside and not feel horribly guilty. Now, I understand that shoveling plow gunk from your driveway is difficult, and perhaps it's not the best thing to be trapped in your driveway, but even after the plows blast your driveway full of misery just after you've cleared it as you watch in misery, an experience I've had far too much this year, you must admit that it's better to clear a bit from your driveway than to have an even worse time driving on completely untreated roads. Even if you don't like winter, it's part of Michigan, and winter it the price we pay for not having to live in Florida. No price is too great a price to pay for avoiding Florida.
ReplyDeleteOkay, while I agree entirely with you on the fact that there are some downsides to winter (shoveling, too many snow days, extremely cold weather, etc), I don't think I will ever change my opinion on the season. You see, there are so many things that I love about winter. There's sledding, ice-skating, building snow forts. One time my brother and I spent six hours in the snow building an enormous igloo in our backyard. Although a lot of people are saying this winter has been terrible, in the past few years we've had instances where all of the snow suddenly melts (Seriously, I was highly disappointed when our igloo melted the day after we built it - a colder winter last year would have been greatly appreciated). Not to mention, snow brings joy to a lot of people. Just watching it sparkle in the sunlight is amazing! And even though winter is cold, as long as you wear lots of layers, you can stay pretty warm. Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the immense silence that comes along with winter. It is an incredible season and it makes spring look a whole lot more beautiful after the snow melts. Therefore, although there are some downsides to such a harsh winter, things could be much worse.
ReplyDeleteTo everyone who has been leaving comments defending winter, know that I have no problem with winter in general, its just that this winter in specific sucks. I'm not bashing winter altogether, only the current one we are experiencing right now.
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