It was thirty-seven degrees when we left the house at 7:40am yesterday to head toward the race. On the last day in April.
Why.
Do people.
Live here?
Now, you guys should know something. I love snow. I've loved snow my whole life. I grew up with a dad who is obsessed with the stuff. I've been snow skiing since I was three. I'm no stranger to snow... For a Southerner. So in December, it was all "this is really not so bad. Ya'll gotta suck it up up here." How cocky I was. How sweet and innocently Southern of me. The MI Winter Powers That Be looked down on my sweet, ignorant, sunny and warm Southern perspective and smiled maliciously. And then dumped a whole heap of wintery firsts on me.
One was driving the aforementioned 30 miles home from work in a snow storm. By the time I arrived to our neighborhood, there was about four inches of heavy, wet snow on our street (which is heavily populated with stop signs, I might add). As well as an impatient teenager driving uncomfortably close behind me. His impatience was not deterred by the alarming amount of sliding my little Toyota was doing at every stop.
If the snow were not coming down in such heavy flurries, I probably would have rolled down my window to scream at him "YOUNG SIR, DO YOU NOT SEE MY GEORGIA TAGS?"
Evidently he does not quite grasp the ineptitude of Southern drivers in inclement weather. Bless his little heart.
Although, I could easily argue he's from Central Michigan. And doesn't quite grasp much behind the wheel anyway. But that's another topic for another time.
Another first was shoveling snow off of our driveway.
And, to be honest, I didn't know what everyone was complaining about. Granted, our driveway is only about fifteen feet long, so it's not a whole lot, but between the two of us, it only takes about forty minutes, and it's a great workout. And our neighborhood rarely gets plowed by the city, (the 1st snowfall was one of those rarities) so no worries about shoveling the drifts from that. Until one of the two times they did.
Directly after an overnight snow storm that didn't stop until the wee hours of the morning, I had no issues driving home from work - the city had kindly plowed the whole highway and I got home in a respectable 45 minutes. Or, rather, I got to our street in a respectable 45 minutes.
Pause for effect.
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| The tracks you see are from my husband leaving a couple hours earlier. |
Yea. I'm THAT person, that gets stuck on the drift from the neighborhood snowplow and blocks the whole street.
Luckily, I experienced a rare moment of Central Michigander neighborliness, and some gentlemen who had gone home for lunch helped teach me how to get out of a jam like that. Which was touching, and it was a moment I really needed at the time.
Right now, my hometown in the Carolinas is hitting highs of 80+ on a regular basis. It's been Spring since early March down there. Summer is about three weeks away. The lakes and beaches are crowded, families are biking, church groups are hiking, and neighborhoods are firing up the grill.
Up here, it just finished snowing, and hasn't quite figured out that it's not supposed to be winter anymore. And I still haven't been able to wear flip-flops. I know you Yankees don't quite get that, but it's MAY AND I HAVE NOT WORN FLIP FLOPS YET. I cannot explain to you how frustrating that is!!
Michigan is a beautiful state. But it's very cold. And I suppose the point to this particular post through these Michigan Winter firsts, is that although I'm still glad that I get to experience the wintry culture of my husband's upbringing, I am also quite homesick for the South. And very impatient for winter to be over.
I hear thats the mark of a true Michigander... Maybe it's time to take on those biscuits...
Are there some other Michigan winter firsts I should experience for next year? Comment and tell me!