Enough already!

A few weeks ago, Madison broke the record for most snow in a single winter. That's hardly news to those of us who live here. It was actually national news.

From USA Today...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Madison has set a record for snowfall with more than 77 inches so far this winter.
The state's second-largest city broke its old seasonal record when 1.8 inches of snow fell overnight Monday into Tuesday, bringing the total for this season to 77.3 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

"There's no official word yet but we have enough on the ground to say the seasonal snowfall record is broken," Weather Central meteorologist Brian Olson said.

The old record of 76.6 inches was set in 1978-79.

Through all of this, I've kept a positive attitude. It helps that I actually like snow. My philosophy is that if you live in a northern climate and you're going to have to deal with the cold, there should be snow to make it fun. A significant snowfall is, to me, as beautiful as spring flowers or fall colors. When Tom would bitch about being sick of winter, beginning about New Year's Day, I would smile and respond, honestly, that I wasn't. "Enjoy it!" I'd say.

Screw that. Today I hit the tipping point. I am officially and unabashedly tired of snow, tired of winter, tired of it all.

So what happened? I'll tell you what happened. Last night, Mother Nature dumped what is best described as a Slurpee® on us. A big, grey, sloppy mess. And then Mommie Dearest sent in a stiff northerly wind and a temperature drop. What was slush on the roadways turned to ice. Not necessarily the slippery black ice, but ice just the same. Because we apparently (really) ran out of salt, the city has adopted Plan B: hope it will melt soon. This coating of crunchy frozen slush brought traffic on our one and only freeway to a crawl. The traffic radio guy wasn't sure how to explain it. There weren't any accidents. People just saw ice and downshifted. Drivers tend to do that after watching several months of slide-offs and rear-enders. Good thing, I guess, but still makes for a lousy commute in a city that isn't supposed to have lousy commutes.

Crawling along the Beltline gave me time to dwell on all the awful things about a really snowy winter. Like how the city, county and state have exhausted their supply of salt as well as their hard-working crews. Like how there is so much snow along the sides of downtown streets that those who still insist on parallel parking sit a good four feet from the curb... thus eliminating a traffic lane. How about the implied license to park anywhere you feel like it in a lot, effectively reducing the total number of available spaces significantly? Like how there is so much salt on my car that deer are coming out of the woods to lick it. (Line appropriated from one-time co-worker Mike Hollsinger, who said this about 20 years ago and I am still using it. Props, Mike.)

For the past six weeks, I've been attending grad school classes in the evenings, about 20 miles from home. Every damn night there has been some kind of weather event, most all of them involving snow. Blowing snow. Deep snow. Wet snow. Frozen-to-the-road snow. Often the only other car on the road as I have been heading home from class is driven by one of those people who is either (a) terrified by the snow and insists on going under 15 miles an hour with their hazard lights flashing, or (b) feels empowered by their vehicle to such a degree that they are riding my bumper because my 50 miles per hour is just not good enough.

For the first time in I don't know how many years, my car (a 4x4 SUV) got stuck in the snow. On the road. In an active traffic lane. It's not like I went pirouetting across the road and put it in the ditch. I was just driving down the road near our house. Came around a bend and what was up to that point a plowed road was no longer plowed. (Thank you Town of Christiana! If plowing snow is a part-time gig, can my property taxes be the same?)

There are some, of course, who are still totally loving the snow. Chief among them are those who don't have to drive. Bosco and Trinket, our two dogs, think this is the best thing ever. Our two mares love to roll in the snow... which beats having them roll in their own excrement any time. Dumb animals, all.

I have become what I have ridiculed: yet another person who is whining about how winter sucks. But, unlike shoveling or being stuck in traffic, the whining makes me feel better.

Comments

[Mike]

Jesus. I heard it was bad...but, wow. I'm sick of winter in Chicago and now I feel like I have no right to complain.

[matt wilcox]

I was listening to an interview with Svali on YouTube regarding the illuminati and a caller named Dave Wilcox asked her a couple questions. I was wondering if that person was you and if so I would very much like to talk with you because I feel that at some level we might be connected (same last name). So anyway, if that was you, please let me know and if not please disregard this message.

-Matt Wilcox

[matt wilcox]

I was listening to an interview with Svali on YouTube regarding the illuminati and a caller named Dave Wilcox asked her a couple questions. I was wondering if that person was you and if so I would very much like to talk with you because I feel that at some level we might be connected (same last name). So anyway, if that was you, please let me know and if not please disregard this message.

-Matt Wilcox