Winter - not what I expected

Winter. It's not what I expected. When we moved south, we sold our snow blower, took one snow shovel and felt silly about it, and packed most of our winter clothes - more out of habit than anything. Now I'm so glad we did.

It's cold, man! Well, okay, none of my Iowa friends will feel sorry for me right now, but I remember Iowa winters that were milder than this one. We had a blizzard with 10 inches of snow before Christmas. Some roads in the mountains are still closed because of snow, and will be for weeks. We keep setting new records for days with temps entirely below freezing. Pipes freeze, furnaces go out, people shiver. "Wind chills below zero" and "black ice" are household words. And this is why we moved???

Worst of all, they don't have any warm clothes here. Not really. I remember that from Florida many years back, when I lived there for a while. You get a sweatshirt, and it's at best medium weight. Sweaters are light. Coats are thinnish. No wonder everyone is freezing! That's where I'm so grateful for my Iowa gloves, coats, sweats, and sweaters. They mean business! The only drawback is, if and when I want to buy new winter clothes, I will have to travel all the way north during the winter, which I'm not about to do. At least here it's supposed to thaw a little next week and get into the forties!

And did I mention driving in snow? It's not done. Period. When the wind blows, power lines come crashing down because of all the trees, and the power goes out. So far we have been lucky, but it's only a matter of time.

So I'm digging in, waiting for spring ... At least that is supposed to come earlier than in Iowa, though it can still snow in April...