Twenty-some years ago, I wrapped up my PhD studies and began the hunt for the perfect “starter job” on the tenure track. One of the search priorities was geography – I wanted to live in a place where Winter actually happened, and snow forecasts didn’t equate to empty bread and milk shelves in the grocery stores. I’m not sure where this delight in snow began, but I’m guessing it’s rooted in the days of my youth when the rare snowstorm rolled into my North Carolina hometown, and we enjoyed bonfires, sledding, and snow days.
My first job landed me in a “lake effect snow zone,” and they sure knew how to deal with the snow that piled up fast and furious. Milk and bread emergency runs didn’t happen, but my kids were sadly disappointed that schools didn’t close when the snowflakes fell. Gone were the snow days of the south.
A dozen years ago, I landed here in northern Illinois where snow isn’t as much of a given as it was in northwest Indiana. While the snow’s kind of hit-or-miss now, when it does pile up, it’s much more of an inconvenience than a joy. City snowplows leave yard-high snow mounds at the end of driveways, snowblowers and shovels leave thin layers of slippery ice as they push aside the soft white snow, and my dogs spend their days begging to romp in the snow as soon as we get them back in. And then the floor – and their fur – need to be dried off again.
Some folks say we’ll get the snow this winter that we dodged last year. While I still appreciate a snowy landscape, I have to admit that the allure of warmer climes has grown stronger over the past week here in DeKalb.
I’m Suzanne Degges-White and that’s my perspective.
