I’m not looking forward to winter. I’m looking at winter. There’s been snow on the ground for weeks.
I fucking despise western PA winters. Yesterday I worked outside, repairing my gf’s power-wagon (a gas powered wheelbarrow) that she uses to clean her horses’ stalls. Two hours in 30 degree weather and I was miserable, greasy, oily, and cold. Oh, and my hoody is filthy.
There’s one respite; in five weeks we’ll head to St Martin for two weeks! But even then I can guarantee we will get a text or two from our house/pet sitter regarding some weather related problems back home. Happens every year.
I here ya. I hate working out in the cold on a car or some such.
I’m am debating now if I should plow again. That’s fine as the truck is cozy and warm. I should really fire up the tractor though. Snow storage is already getting sparse in some areas, and I should use the tractor to push it off the edges of the driveway and clear some other areas so my truck has a place to push to.
When you don’t get what you want, you get experience. Sticking my plow truck is a big deal. If, with chains on all four wheels and a winch on the back, I get it stuck, I’ll be in for a miserable day. The Kubota is not quite big enough to pull the truck out. But the truck can pull it out. The tractor only weighs about a ton.
Bah. I suppose I should fire up the tractor.
Winter has already been here for quite some time, so it’s impossible to be “looking forward” to it. This year’s has been the wintriest November I can remember.
(And no, seasons don’t start on the solstices. Cite)
Chicagoan here. I love winter and always look forward to it. Winter always energizes me and makes me more creative and productive for some reason. My favorite season in order are fall, winter, spring, summer. But change is also important. I don’t think I’d enjoy 12 months of winter or fall.
(Meteorological) winter is almost 1/9 of the way over.
Looking forward to spring.
Dealing with this goddamn plow is another shitty thing. My gf gave her brother her old Dodge Dakota and bought a newish Silverado that came with a plow. We decided to sell the plow, and it has turned into a headache.
We’re willing to let someone have a bargain, but they still need to pony up $2400 cash. I knew I’d get offers of ATV trades on Craigslists, those I don’t even bother responding to. But I’ve had two guys wanting to make payments, and I’d rather let the damn thing sit here forever than work out a payment plan with a stranger. One guy even showed me a spreadsheet he made, showing how quickly we’d have our money. 
Plus, it’s cold outside.
I dislike winter, but I really really dislike ice. If I could have a winter w/o ice on the roads, I wouldn’t mind it nearly as much.
Neutral, only because my son in law said he’ll shovel my driveway if necessary. 
I can deal with cold, but I don’t like driving in snow. I’ve seen too many stupid drivers thinking their 4WD vehicles make them impervious to the laws of physics.
I really dislike cold weather, but I loathe ice. So why do I stay in Montreal? Largely for the health care at my age (nearly 82).
I know a man from Saskatchewan who had a permanent position in Barbados that he gave up for a position in NYC. When I asked him why, he said that he couldn’t bear the climate of Barbados (which varies from an average high of 29-30 C in January to 30-31 in July; it is so nearly constant that the paper doesn’t have a weather forecast).
Humans are not adapted to live in places with real winters. I hate every single second of it. If I ever never saw another fucking snowflake in my life, it would would be too soon.
I am dumb enough to live in New England and I am trapped here for now but I have an exit plan but it is going to take a few more years. People think “winter” in New England is pretty when they see it on TV. Screw them 1,000 time over. There is nothing good about it. Winter in New England isn’t some delicate season that comes and goes like an angel. Hell, no. It can start in October and last well into April. Half the year is gone before it suddenly gets hot and then you have to start getting ready for it again.
Let’s count just a few of the joys of winter:
- My electric bill suddenly goes from about $80 a month to about $600 a month because I have electric heat.
- Seasonal affective disorder.
- It is dark when you go to work and when you come home.
- Wrecks all over the place. Your time will come too.
- Being woken up when it is 7 am and 15F outside on a Saturday morning so that you can dig out and then move your vehicle for the snowplows.
- People are in a generally bitchy mood.
- Winter sports like downhill skiing, snowmobiling and hockey are designed to bankrupt you just before you get seriously injured.
That is just a sample.
The dirty little secret is that nobody likes winter. Some people tolerate it because they either don’t know any better or they can’t afford to get out of dodge. The flights from Boston to Florida and the Caribbean are filled by January by evacuees.
I have my own evacuation plan but it is permanent and I am never looking back. I wasn’t raised to be an Eskimo child when there are so many places in the world that actually have hospitable conditions.
Sounds like you made a bad decision at some point. My electric bill is highest in summer because of A/C. Winter heating is cheap.
Heard of it. Never had it. I must be immune. Hard to be sad when seeing the glow of Christmas lights on freshly fallen snow.
I don’t go to work.
Hasn’t come in 45+ years of driving.
My vehicle is in my garage. If there’s snow, a plow service clears the driveway and the streetside plow drifts while I slumber. I count a plow service as one of the best service hire decisions I ever made.
See point #2, and also, my concluding comments in this post.
I don’t even know what that means.
Is it a “secret”, or just something you made up?
A few things I love about winter:
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Windows closed; thus, no yapping dogs, screaming children, and, due to cold weather, no neighbors having backyard parties, which with the windows closed I wouldn’t hear anyway.
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the holiday season.
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Garage is like a cold room, so I can keep cases of bottled water there instead of carting them down to the basement, and use the shelves in the garage to cool hot foods before refrigerating, or even keep them there overnight.
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Hockey season – the best sport in the world!
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No lawn mowing or garden maintenance.
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Coziness of fireplaces and hot drinks while watching the snow fly.
I am. It’s sometimes actually pleasantly coolish at night. Still keep the windows and door open and go out and about in shorts, but it’s a good feeling.
I live in California, and I voted yes. Partly because of the much needed rain, partly because the hillsides get green, and also because we don’t have air conditioning so if it gets warm we have to deal with it. Heating is much easier.
This is my sort of first real winter of my life (I moved from coastal CA to western MA last Feb so got the “tail end” of last year’s winter which is to say by May the snow was gone). There is a lot to figure out. Keeping horses or other livestock when it never gets above freezing is … interesting. Water buckets with heating coils embedded in the bases. Poop freezes solid to the ground within an hour. We are blessed with a great wood stove, a huge pile of firewood to burn in it, and a short driveway to a town-plowed road. I would a thousand times rather be in cold weather than hot. Pretty much depends on whether you prefer being invigorated or enervated. I’m the former kind. Winter hit here early and very hard, with a foot of snow and zero temps. Now we are settling into 30’s daytime, teens nighttime. Not horrible. I discovered that there is a profound difference doing the livestock chores when it is two degrees and when it is twenty.
There is no beauty like the snowy woods of winter though. The sunrises are unbelievable. The dance that water does when it freezes is astonishing.
Winter’s okay with me. It keeps away the crowds, and that is a great advantage to it. Especially now that deer hunting season is over and I don’t have to suit up in orange to go for a walk anymore.
I voted yes, but with some qualifications. I’ve lived in Wyoming and northern Montana after growing up in Chicago. The snow was OK; it was the windchill that got me, especially since I have Raynaud’s Syndrome. So I moved to western WA, where it snows maybe twice per winter and obligingly melts the next day. It rains all the time, but I love rain. It gets dark early, but I like that, too. So I like winter here.
Heat makes me wilt like toxic romaine, so Florida is out for me. Plus in Florida, you must contend with evil clowns, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s office:
“Warning to evil clowns and anyone considering creepy clown activity: We will not be there to save you if your intended target defends himself or herself, and you may face other penalties as well,” the post read.
So not only are people planning creepy clown activity, there are actual evil clowns. I hear they like the climate. Also the many storm drains.
Wow, yet another reason to avoid Florida. Thanks for the tip!
I love winter - but I love REAL winter. I hate the inbetween crap with cold, miserable weather and no snow.
I used to hate one aspect in particular - scraping my damn windows, but now I have a garage. All good. I also no longer live where it gets to -30c for weeks at a time.
Texas here: Winter isn’t harsh and we rarely have snow or ice so I can enjoy it.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I live amongst a lot of irritating toddlers who’ve accomplished so little, the only way to be noticed is to generate excessive noise. Harley’s, stereos, jetskis, and all manner of modified engine mufflers are used to compensate for their obvious shortcomings. Thankfully, these children are afraid of the cold so winter is a very peaceful time for camping, fishing, etc. When the temps hover around freezing, the muffler-less man-child will scurry inside and leave the outdoors for the adults.
I just spent a week camping in a canyon and sat by my campfire hearing no noise other than the occasional coyote. Yeah, it was 25 degrees (F), but it was worth it for the peace and quiet.
I never look forward to Winter. Luckily for me, here in the Upside Down we are currently heading into Summer.
My favourite time of year is Spring, because the new life, bees and butterflies and birds, new colours, fresh green grass and leaves, and milder temperatures just make me happy.