In my opinion, you just can’t beat winter. The colder and snowier, the better.
As for the cold, I say bring it on. I love it. I enjoy getting bundled up in layer after layer of Thinsulate, down and Gore-Tex for a jaunt to the end of the driveway to retrieve my newspaper each morning.
Granted, I can always duck back into the house and crank up the thermostat if I get too cold. Once I warm up, I just bundle up again and head back into the elements. When I’m in the field, I don’t have as much access to warmth, but that doesn’t bother me much. When you’re having fun, it takes longer for the cold to work its way into your bones.
Cold is much more enjoyable when it is accompanied by snow. It’s hard to get excited about going outside when the thermometer is reading single digits if there’s not a layer of white covering the dirt and dead vegetation.
It has to do with anticipation. After all, when there’s snow on the ground, you never know when a snowball fight will break out. Nothing is as exciting as the imminent danger of a well-packed snowball colliding with the side of your face at 30 mph.
The only drawback to a snowy January is the extra work. I don’t have a sidewalk at my house, so I don’t have to shovel it. My driveway is dirt, so I don’t shovel that either. But that doesn’t mean my shovel gets to take the winter off.
Because I’m not a kid anymore, I don’t get snow days. I have to go to work whether my driveway is visible or buried under two feet of drifted snow.
I also often wind up digging a lot when I’m out in the field. I don’t always exercise the best judgment about which snow-covered roads to drive on and which to stay off of. But even with all the digging, I still say snowy weather is the best weather. Snow makes it easier to track game, it’s easier to ski on than dirt, and snowball fights are much more fun than rock fights.
So if you see me standing in the middle of a snowy landscape with a stupid grin on my face, you’ll know why. If you don’t agree with me about snow and cold, you have my permission to try to knock the smile off my face with a snowball. Just be prepared for the all-out, no-holds-barred snowball war that ensues.
