Let’s Not! I’m Not Ready!
Fall Color (A Week Ago)
I live in Michigan, where we experience all four of the seasons in their splendid glory. It’s one of the most appealing attributes of “Pure Michigan.” When people ask a Michigander, “Why do you live in Michigan?” the answer revolves around all four seasons and how we like to experience them. I have written articles on Fall and color changes. Michigan is a terrific place to see the colors of the leaves change!
If I have one complaint, it is the shortness of Fall. All seasons seem to be shorter, save for Winter, which lasts every bit of 3 months. If you live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it lasts up to 6 months. It is not uncommon for it to snow in October and as late as April. I know because I have celebrated a “White” Easter on a few occasions, and we received our first snowfall of the year just the other day (November 14th).
Fall Color (November)
Some people love Winter. I am sorry to say I am not one of those people. Don’t get me wrong; I like the snow and the seasonal changes. If I didn’t, I certainly wouldn’t be living in Michigan. It’s always great in the beginning, as the kids love the first snowfall. I saw it this weekend when we were out with the Cub Scout troop on a hike excursion. The boys, and girls, were throwing snowballs at one another, running here and there.
Let talk about the negatives of Winter. The Winter brings with it the promise of “darker” days as we have less daylight. Leaving work at 5 PM means a nighttime drive home. Most of us spend our workday indoors, and by the time we punch out, the sun has already begun to set. Come the latter part of Winter; we are so Vitamin D deficient we look like vampires.
Early November Winter
In addition to shorter days, the Metro Detroit region has climate swings. Our Winters are so incredibly erratic. It is not uncommon to get a subzero day peppered in with 40, 50, or 60-degree weather. We can get a light snow dusting to a hefty amount of snow, resulting in over 12-inch accumulations. The temperature swings will play havoc with the snow, and it can be a pleasant, quiet experience one day and a turbulent, icy nightmare the next.
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
This leads to another negative attributed to Michigan Winters, the “potholes.” You know, the sometimes small, but more often vast chunks of road that have broken away from our typical street or pathway home. The same bottomless hole our tires find every time we traverse some stretch of roadway on our way home. I became so fed up with one in my neighborhood I tried to fill it (Read Here).
So let’s not skip Fall and get right to Winter as if we have a choice. We, as Michiganders, love to complain about this. We can all get together and complain about something we all share in. The “finicky” weather of the midwest!
Comments