I’m done with “winter”. For a while. And I think I’m allowed.
Having grown up just south of the “Great Nort’ Woods”, I’ve had my fair share of winters. From minus who knows what wind chills, snowbanks at school so high that we could only play “King of the Mountain” after school because otherwise we’d get yelled at (as in, “get down from there you hooligans, you’ll fall and break your necks”, or something), forts dug into the packed snow mounds that we knew wouldn’t collapse because the walls were so damn thick, ice skating at recess, sledding on the golf course, and watching all the cars and shanties set up shop on the lakes, waiting for their tip ups to, um, tip up.
These last three winters in Indiana haven’t been as extreme. They’ve been moody, with snow coming and going as the rain saw fit, but no real accumulation, no minus 20 wind chill, and no particular reason for the below freezing temps. I think I went sledding maybe twice the whole time. So, in my definition, winter without the use of the snow is relatively pointless. The two super cool things I saw here, and they were darn awesome, was the river freezing then thawing, breaking off huge icebergs that would race under the bridge so I could follow them like Poohsticks, making wonderful music in the quiet morning, and also the hoar frost that formed along said river before the bright sun came all the way up and melted its fun.
As of right now, I’ve experienced two types of winter in North America: very cold with lots of snow in which to play, and mildly cold enough with not much snow to speak of but an occasional fantastic but short lived feat of winterness. A third type does exist, and it’s called “warm”. You know, the kind of winter where it’s the rainy months of the year for that location, things are green and growing, and you can still wear sandals the whole way through without being harassed by co-workers for being nuts.
I want to experience that third type of winter. Soon. You know, so I can be well rounded and complete in my wintery experiences. And so I can wear sandals all year round. And not get the wonderful “cabin fever” I’m so accustomed to once a year. And so I can bike all the time, without having to worry about weather my break lines are going to freeze shut. And maybe so I can learn how to surf, and be really really good at it. Is that too much to ask?
what Was, what Is, and what Will Be 