I was born and raised in Rochester, N.Y. The small upstate town is famous for a variety of things, including some prestigious high schools and the birthplace of the actor Taye Diggs. It is also the home of Mark’s Hots garbage plate, Boss Sauce and Country Sweet restaurants.
Aside from the satisfactory culinary establishments and semi-famous actors, my hometown is mostly infamous for the crap-load of snow that we receive each year.
Imagine waking up one day and walking outside, only to realize that snow is up to your stomach. Oh joy, that sounds amazing, right? In about two weeks, I’ll be back to the frozen tundra, battling ice dragons and yetis for scraps of smoked turkey leg.
In all seriousness, I’ll be returning home for a month to celebrate the holiday season with my mother and father, all three older sisters, three nephews, seven nieces and my niece soon to be born, Storii.
It seems a majority of the family is born in the winter. Although that should influence me to enjoy the snow season due to the multitude of festivities it has to offer, I most definitely do not.
When people ask how much I’m looking forward to going home to the snow, I think of so many things that I miss oh so badly. I miss having to walk out of the house hours earlier to make it somewhere on time because shoveling must be done. I miss shoveling for an hour just to be able to exit the house, and then shoveling once more 30 minutes later because more snow has fallen in the same exact spot.
I miss waiting for the car to heat up and thaw as more snow falls, which will need to be shoveled as well. I miss salting the driveway and hoping that it keeps ice from being hidden underneath my feet. I miss seeing the dirty brown color stained on everyone’s cars from the salt laid out on the street.
I miss the dirty rings of salt haloed around pant legs upon coming inside from the snow. I miss the smelly wet socks fermenting within boots right after stepping into a chilling puddle of water. I miss walking through any place with a tiled floor and slipping everywhere due to the freshly melted sludge from everyone’s boots.
Who could possibly pass up black ice on the streets that make cars slide and spin beyond control? Who doesn’t love squeezing hands and wiggling fingers just to get circulation into the extremities? Who could resist having to drink steaming hot coffee, tea and hot chocolate multiple times per day just to keep every organ on the inside warm.
What about the advantages of napping all day due to head colds and viruses floating around the air? The advantage of eating all that is desired within the house or that takeout is willing to bring because going to buy groceries is preposterous. The advantage of hiding all the weight gained underneath four layers of clothing just to stay warm.
OK, in all honesty, I can name a few positive aspects to the wintertime. The whimsically aesthetic feel of a white Christmas. Looking out the window and seeing the piles of pure snowflakes scattered in every direction. The family togetherness constructed by the holiday season.
It is the most logical time to wear jackets, hoodies, sweaters and other long-sleeve apparel that it’s otherwise too hot year round to wear. How about the precious look on a child’s face when they see snow for the first time? Most importantly, snow days; which needs no explanation.
However, snow and the wintertime is not a time that I’m particularly a fan of. Far too many negative connotations are involved with winter that makes me detest being stuck within it. Most people get tired of the wonders in nature that they see throughout their whole lives and snow would be that natural wonder that I have completely lost all amusement from.
