It’s very interesting living in the snow belt capital of the United States next to Lake Erie. Generally it snows in October, gives us a couple of weeks of nicer weather called Indian Summer, before providing us a typically steady supply of snow which must be shoveled or plowed almost on a daily basis.
Sometime in late April the snow finally stops. We get sporadic nice weather combined with frigid frost until late May/early June. Finally in July and August we get to see some really nice weather and even get introduced to the sunshine. September starts chilling us down again and the snow joins us again in October.
Unlike warmer areas south of us that close up like clams at the slightest hint of snow (I’m only talking 100 miles or so south), we are still expected to go to work and school normally. Schools will occasionally have snow days, usually when we get subzero temperatures, but places of employment expect you to be at work on time.
Driving is a special treat. There’s always someone with either no experience in the snow or with bad tires backing the traffic up. There’s also the drivers that think that they can drive faster and stop better than every one else because they have 4-wheel drive (news flash – even 2 wheel drive vehicles brake with all four tires… duhh!). These drivers tend to get weeded out pretty early in the winter – you can see them in the ditches near intersections where they didn’t slow down enough for the stop sign and in the median of the thruway where they were passing the more cautious drivers.
When my grandfather settled in the United States, he started off working in the coal mines of Puritan, Pennsylvania. I often wondered why he moved up to the North and cold weather. Turns out he did it on purpose – he wanted to grow winter wheat, which requires cold winters. I would love to go back in time and shake some sense into him… but alas, the damage has been done.
When I was younger, I was adamant that I wanted to move to a warmer climate. I even left and lived a year in Colorado (not any warmer, just less snow), but ended up moving back with my family. Then I met my husband. I tried to get him to pick up and move south with me. At the time we had no real ties other than our families and work, but he wouldn’t leave.
We ended up buying a home and once our children were in school, it was harder to just pick up and leave. Every winter I voiced my unhappiness with the cold, harsh conditions, but year after year went by and there we remained.
My husband changed jobs and we did move south about 40 miles. We get a little bit less snow, but we’re still on the edge of the snow belt. My job is north, so I drive daily into the lovely winter wonderland, wondering why it’s so hard to just take a chance, gather the kids and husband & move to a warmer climate. Somehow, I think it’s a question that I’ll never get answered.
