I am currently sitting in the back seat of the Durango. Earl and Jamie are up front. We are on the Thruway on our way to dinner in Syracuse with my family. It is snowing.
Here’s the thing. It’s December. We are in Central New York. We live near a very big lake, so big that they call it a “great lake” and Mother Nature conspires with that lake and makes what is called lake effect snow. Rumor has it we get the most snow east of the Mississippi. It’s been this way for a very long time.
One of the scary thing about driving on the Thruway at this time of year is that people that don’t fully comprehend this weather try to vacation up here. “Oh the snow is so pretty!” These vacationers are frequently seen with downstate and New Jersey plates. For some reason there is a belief that when it’s snowing outside, regardless of the time of day, wearing sunglasses will help you see better.
That’s wrong.
Here’s another thing: your windows shouldn’t fog up on the inside. If your windows fog up it’s because you don’t know how to work your heater. If you take the heater off of “recirculate” and put it on “fresh” your windows won’t fog up.
“Why don’t they take care of the roads up here?” Uh, we do, but when snow is falling at a ridiculous pace and the governor cuts maintenance funding, it sometimes takes a little while to get the job done.
I take pride in the fact that I am native to this area and am not bothered by this weather. I’m a proud country boy that loves all aspects of this winter wonderland Snow doesn’t slow me down, it’s just part of the game for six months of the year.
If you can’t figure out how to live in it, play in it and survive in it, then perhaps a winter wonderland is not the place for you.
