Preconceptions About Living in Winter - Smashed

Pure white and pretty snow lined streets, lovely walks in snow showers with the wind gently playing on my fur trimmed hood, and houses and trees blanked in soft white flakes  were kind of the type of images I had of winter before living through one.  Well, here's what I've learned:

1. Freshly fallen snow's white and clean.  BUT give it just a bit of time and dirt on the sidewalks and roads will color them brown and dirty.  So actually, streets can look pretty grimy.
2. Winter is DANGEROUS.  Everywhere's slippery either from melted snow or frozen water.  Even walking gingerly in my UGGs have not spared me from almost slipping every now and then.  I now wear my rubber sole winter boots when it's a wet snowy morning.
3. Skating is NOT FUN when you're in a car.  Otherwise known as planing or fishtailing, this is when wheels of your car glide over ice on roads.  Such ice are commonly called "black ice" and "black" only because they are mostly felt on roads/pathways therefore they look black, or also because sometimes, you just can't see them.
4. Wind chill is soooooo not funny.  Fingers, especially, seem to freeze even in the short walk between car and office.
5. Winter is not always white, even in Michigan.  The snow coats everything in white, and then the sun comes and melt the stuff stripping everything back to what it was, i.e. naked trees and brown lawns/fields.

I make it sound so unenjoyable but that couldn't be further from the truth...and because this is exactly why we're here!  To learn about what living through winter is like!

The sportier locals have a saying, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only the WRONG GEAR!"  So winter conditions have not stopped us from getting out and driving around.  We went skiing for the first time last Sunday - doing this at the harmless looking Apple Mountain bunny hill, so called because it's just a heave in the land, a small bump for wary adults and little kids to learn on.  We're waiting for a snow dump on the weekends so we can go snow shoeing or cross country skiing in the parks near home.  I'm looking to try ice skating and ice fishing as well.  And we'll report back when we've had a chance to enjoy those!

Right car, wrong season.  I'm waiting for temperatures to hit about 15 degree Celsius or 60 degree Fahrenheit before dropping the top down.  There's always something to look forward to!