Much Obliged, Old Man Winter

Lizzi and I will officially be leaving the country on December 18th, a scant few days before the official beginning of winter, and we will be returning in early April, a couple weeks after spring has sprung. That means that we miss ALL of the winter. For most people, skipping the coldest months of the year in one of the coldest parts of the country would be a dream come true. Even my parents hid out from Jack Frost in New Mexico for a few years.

But having been raised and lived most of my life in the Snow Belt, I actually enjoy winter. Sure, I've seen plenty of green Christmases, and Lizzi and I honeymooned in Hawaii for one of the them, but there's still something so special to me about seeing the snow gently blanket the ground. Every year I look forward to that first snowfall. Like one of my beloved Gilmore girls, there's just something magical about it for me. So knowing that we were going to miss ALL of winter, I was feeling a little down, because I was going to miss out on one of those precious few magical moments.

Old Man Winter must have heard my sighs of disappointment, because he delivered this week in a big way. Over the past few days, it has snowed lightly, leaving a couple of inches of fluffy, white powder on the ground. Sure, it brought traffic to a halt, made walking home in dress shoes a bit tough, but I can live with all of that knowing that I did not miss my winter.