What a Real Winter is Like

I love winter but of course in Texas there is not much snow. The problems come when and if we get a big ice storm. Then it turns upside down as we are not good at dealing with it. When I still worked, most often I would not go in. Now, I keep enough food, water, petfood on hand so I don't have to worry. I can cook or heat things on the gas grill or gas fireplace. I have plenty of warm clothes and heavy blankets in the house. If I know a storm is coming I fill the bathtubs with water for flushing in case the pipes freeze. I have at least so far avoided any disasters. Is there something else I should worry about. I have been on my own for about twelve years. Please let me know, I like to be prepared.
 

More snow pics from this neck of the woods...

snow-barn-4-HD.jpg
 

It gets cold enough in So Cal to bundle up now and then, but we rarely have a day where temps don't at least reach the low 50s. It's usually lightly breezy, which makes it seem cooler.

There are enough opportunities to wear sweaters, lined driving gloves, lined boots, and moderately warm jackets to fully distinguish the season, but not so many that we own full winter wardrobes.

If you watch the annual January 1st Rose Parades from Pasadena, you'll notice most spectators are bundled up when the parade begins at 8 AM PST (partly because many have camped overnight), but have shed much of their outerwear by the time the parade ends around noon.
 
RadishRose said:
Don't you have any heat in your house? You don't want your pipes to freeze! They can burst and flood your house when it melts.
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There is always a chance that the electricity could go out in an ice storm. I do have a gas fireplace so I could stay warm and heat foods.
 
Knight said:
Winter as in kids home due to snow? Winter as in dull gray skies & bare trees. Or no picnics in the park, high heating costs, multiple layers of clothes to go out to shovel snow. Hoping your car will start or at least warm up fast to melt the ice off your windshield. Waiting for the snow plows to clear the roads. Experienced drivers racing past you on ice covered roads<<< sarcasm.

Lots to like, just not what I like.
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Yep, don't miss any of that!
 
What used to drive me crazy about winter in the frozen north was what to do with all your outer clothing when you got inside. You get inside the theater and you have to deal with your coat, your muffler, your hat, your gloves and maybe the extra cardigan you put on but don't need now. You're sitting in your seat in a nest of clothing and your back is sweating, your butt is sweating, your legs and arms are sweating. Your feet are sweating.

You go to the mall and you get to carry all that around as well as your bags.

Stuffing the kids into snowsuits, mufflers, hats, boots and then have them come in ten minutes later: "I GOTTA GO TO THE BAFFROOM!" Rinse and repeat.

You get into your car, fully clothed against the cold. It's fine until the heater starts working and then you're roasting. You have to try to wiggle out of your coat while driving down the road. The people in the back seat are cold, the people in the front seat are hot (unless, of course, you have a car fancy enough to have separate controls for front and back and then you get to say, "WELL, THEN, DOOOO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.....YOU HAVE A DIAL!")

Your coat closet is stuffed: the light coat, the medium coat, the heavy coat, the dressy coat and that's for every member of the family. AND the boots. The black boots, the brown boots, the really-heavy-tromp-in-the-snow-boots, the high-heeled boots, the low-heeled boots, the boots-that-you-just-HAD-to-have-that-only-go-with-one-outfit, plus a large collection of gloves (many of which are missing their partners but you can't throw that one away because you just MIGHT find the other one), the toboggan caps, the earmuffs, the balaclavas, the mufflers.

I don't like cold weather. I don't like wearing a lot of clothing. I would have been happy in the Garden of Eden with a nice fig leaf or two.
 
I went to Hawaii for a couple weeks with friends back in 2017, couldn't wait to get home! Skin blistered and I just couldn't get comfortable all the time I was there. I'll take the winter, we get a 2 week stretch of -50 degrees somewhere between mid January and mid February, still never as uncomfortable I was in Hawaii.
 
I hate serious winter.
I recall, back in the 1970's, driving across Wyoming during January. Temps were - 30 F below zero, with howling wind.
 
jujube said:
What used to drive me crazy about winter in the frozen north was what to do with all your outer clothing when you got inside. You get inside the theater and you have to deal with your coat, your muffler, your hat, your gloves and maybe the extra cardigan you put on but don't need now. You're sitting in your seat in a nest of clothing and your back is sweating, your butt is sweating, your legs and arms are sweating. Your feet are sweating.

You go to the mall and you get to carry all that around as well as your bags.

Stuffing the kids into snowsuits, mufflers, hats, boots and then have them come in ten minutes later: "I GOTTA GO TO THE BAFFROOM!" Rinse and repeat.

You get into your car, fully clothed against the cold. It's fine until the heater starts working and then you're roasting. You have to try to wiggle out of your coat while driving down the road. The people in the back seat are cold, the people in the front seat are hot (unless, of course, you have a car fancy enough to have separate controls for front and back and then you get to say, "WELL, THEN, DOOOO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.....YOU HAVE A DIAL!")

Your coat closet is stuffed: the light coat, the medium coat, the heavy coat, the dressy coat and that's for every member of the family. AND the boots. The black boots, the brown boots, the really-heavy-tromp-in-the-snow-boots, the high-heeled boots, the low-heeled boots, the boots-that-you-just-HAD-to-have-that-only-go-with-one-outfit, plus a large collection of gloves (many of which are missing their partners but you can't throw that one away because you just MIGHT find the other one), the toboggan caps, the earmuffs, the balaclavas, the mufflers.

I don't like cold weather. I don't like wearing a lot of clothing. I would have been happy in the Garden of Eden with a nice fig leaf or two.
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I solved that problem 30 years ago. Couldn't stand what you described. Plus the weight of the coat. So I got rid of my winter coat. Just a light jacket, with appropriate sweater or vest underneath. My hands, wrists, neck, and head (and possibly face) have to be covered. And yes, I do live where winters are real.

Unfortunately, this might not work where it's windy. Cold plus wind is terrible.

I knew a lovely couple from Connecticut. They had 5 children. One day the husband looked at the 5 snowsuits hanging up, and the 5 pairs of dripping boots, and said, "We're moving to Florida." And they did.

We Canadians don't usually have that option.
 
ae-0625.jpg


Winter in snowy climates may be a difficult, frigid place to exist about for months living in. But also in this modern technology science era offers an incredible level of fun and beauty for those that choose to pursue its white wonderland. The above is a view of a 9700 foot ridge line after a rimy snowstorm passed leaving a winter wonderland under crystal clear deep blue sky. Incredible beauty abounds for a landscape photographer prepared to exist within its harsh environment. Less difficult is living at less wintery less cold locations and only visiting snowy places for fun with some limited driving.

The last 15 years I haven't done much serious snow photography because I so greatly enjoy snow skiing I've pursued about Lake Tahoe over the last 4 decades. With skiing, once one reaches advanced skiing levels, I will argue the potential visceral fun is greater than any other physical activity or sport an Earth creature can imagine. As a skier with elite skills, I enjoy it immensely. Arguably the most incredible skiing experience is powder skiing bouncing rhythmically like a deliriously happy rabbit through an untracked sparesly treed forest white wonderland, deep in lusciously soft dry cold freshly fallen snow.

My 3 ski pass resorts are all open now for Thanksgiving but snow depths are shallow with many rocks showing. However today's weather forecast shows at least 3 more feet could bury it all during the week after the holiday weekend so December for this person could be most enjoyably fun.
 
I, too, live where winters can be quite harsh. But I enjoy the four seasons so it's part of the package. I live near mountains (I can see them from my back windows) and when it snows, it's quite beautiful. Thankfully, I don't have to shovel any of it.
 
NorthernLight said:
I solved that problem 30 years ago. Couldn't stand what you described. Plus the weight of the coat. So I got rid of my winter coat. Just a light jacket, with appropriate sweater or vest underneath. My hands, wrists, neck, and head (and possibly face) have to be covered. And yes, I do live where winters are real.

Unfortunately, this might not work where it's windy. Cold plus wind is terrible.

I knew a lovely couple from Connecticut. They had 5 children. One day the husband looked at the 5 snowsuits hanging up, and the 5 pairs of dripping boots, and said, "We're moving to Florida." And they did.

We Canadians don't usually have that option.
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Suggestion: Buy a "down jacket" , sometimes called a puffer jacket. Super light weight. Hardly feels like you're wearing a coat.
 
I can't say I'm crazy about frigid temperatures or too much snow and gray skies. I just try and make the best of it here in NE Ohio. It's considered the Midwest too.
 
I moved to Iowa in 1996. It was in 1997, I was introduced to "Heavy Snowfall" I'd ordered a winter coat from Sears (Remember them?) And got it 5 days before snowfall.

Woke to 3 FEET of snow. My dogs had fun, me I shoveled a 20' X 65' driveway. So, later moved back to Oregon. That was the most I'd seen since 1970 at an old house mom owned.

I applaud all those people who make our Midwest the feed belt of the USA. But you can keep the snow..Brrrrrrrrr!!!
 
JustDave said:
I still like winter, but back in my skiing days, I waited for it constantly. Back then, Skiing Magazine was only published during the winter. About September I started making special trips to town just to see if the first publication of the winter was out yet. I used to think this was crazy, even while I was doing it. In march the snow started turning to mush, and while it was great fun spring skiing in a T-Shirt (at times), I was sad knowing that winter was coming to an end.

On the 4th of July, a bunch of us would drive over to Glacier Park, and summer ski in Logan Pass. We would carry our skis up the mountain, and that would take about a hour. Then we would ski down the mountain and that took 2 minutes. But you do what you gotta do.
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how about Warren Miller films!?!

this place just opened up in NJ... today, i think!?

https://www.bigsnowamericandream.com/
 
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