[idw2s]

I can't help it. I've wanted to live in snow for.... my whole life. Instead I grew up with sand, palm trees, smog, and silicone.

Every morning I wake up and expect to finally be tired of the white, cold, hassle, etc. Everyone I know who did grow up in the snow assured me we'll get tired of it, it's a pain, cold is cold, we don't know what we're in for.

I think there are hot people and cold people, and I'm a cold person. I surely am not a hot person, except in the wilted in front of an ineffective air conditioner sense.

Instead, I fall more in love with this every day. It's like Disneyland for snow lovers. I notice new and incredibly beautiful sights every time I look out my window, and I get so choked up I want to cry.

I have only seen fat, slushy snowflakes. While I admit I like them too, they look so impressive falling, snow here glitters. I've always wondered why crafters use cotton and glitter to depict snow, it certainly doesn't look cottony when you get the slushy kind, and it never, ever glitters, except when it's iced over, then it has that harsh, reflective glow.

But here, you get a street light hitting a pile of new snow just right, and it looks like a sea of diamonds in the finest spun cotton ever. And when it falls, it looks like glitter in your headlights.

Then there are the drifts, like mother nature had nothing better to do than make snow art and snow sculptures all day.

But what beats all, is the icecicles. Oh, heavens. I know I am not supposed to like them. I know ice is unsafe, inconvenient, and icecicles can impale you given the right circumstances, but wow, they are GORGEOUS. I'm sure there is some very important reason I am supposed to knock them off, but instead, I only knock them off over the door, because I like to look at them.

One of these days, we'll get some snowmobiles. I'm hoping by this time next year my horses know how to pull a sleigh. Oh, heavens.....

I don't care how cold I am, I don't care that I have become used to adjusting my thermostat much colder.... I'm just love it here. Even moving in the snow, driving a U-Haul up my icy drive.... I still love it.

[michmoldman]

Wow...you really were made for Michigan! lol...Actually I feel the same way. While most people look outside and curse the cold and snow...I absolutely love it! When it warmed up to 30 deg. I actually felt warm and hated it! I.... also like you, see the beauty in everything...even when its 7 below, I drive by the river that goes through our town and see the steam rising and think how beautiful it looks. Ive been here 44 years and still never tire of winter. In fact...where I am in mid-Michigan it is no where near the winter I crave. I feed off the snow and cold..it makes me stronger. I NEED to move north...soon!

[idw2s]

Originally Posted by michmoldman

Wow...you really were made for Michigan! lol...Actually I feel the same way. While most people look outside and curse the cold and snow...I absolutely love it! When it warmed up to 30 deg. I actually felt warm and hated it! I.... also like you, see the beauty in everything...even when its 7 below, I drive by the river that goes through our town and see the steam rising and think how beautiful it looks. Ive been here 44 years and still never tire of winter. In fact...where I am in mid-Michigan it is no where near the winter I crave. I feed off the snow and cold..it makes me stronger. I NEED to move north...soon!

Yah, there's a part of me that looks at pictures in Da U.P. and drools.... but I need to know I can get to medical help when I need it, so it's not a place I think I can live full time.

Vacation home, well... maybe. I have some work to do first.

But considering we didn't get much more than a few dustings most years in Seattle and Portland.... This is heaven enough for me. I'm lucky enough to have 35 acres of rolling hills, so I get all this unspoiled terrain to look at. It's awesome!

One thing I've learned from dealing with my health issues (and marriage, and parenting, and about anything else of value I've done with my life!) is that the great stuff is work. So for me, yeah, I'll take the work in order to live a good chunk of my year in a winter wonderland.

I think the only real downside of snow to me, is how ugly it gets when we mess with it. When spring is springing, and there are sad piles of black chunky snow on the side of the road.... That's the only time I'm glad to see it melt away.

But yeah, I'm happy. Being a Scout Mom is good, I've learned to be prepared. Layers do a lot, put some on, take some off. There are some new studies that seem to indicate that getting used to cooler temps lowers your weight (as long as you're not eating to replace the heat loss, but truly acclimating. Another reason to love the snow!

Hope you find that place you're looking for, M.M.M. (I typed it without the periods, but that looks wrong, and this way just makes me think of emineminem.... I am crazy....)! I thought I was going to lose my mind before we did. We almost gave up. We had a hard time finding a realtor that was a good fit for us, and we had our issues buying this house, but we just couldn't bear the thought of living anywhere else. They were minor issues compared to how much we enjoyed our time here.

And I can't wait to see this place in the spring. And the fall. Sweet!

[Coldjensens]

Just wait until you see an ice storm. (rain that freezes instantly) The trees, grass, weeds, cars, everything gets coated in a thick layer of clear ice and everything sparkles like jewels. You can find pictures on the internet, but I have never seen a picutre that captures how pretty it is in real live. Just do not try to drive after an ice storm. Stayaway from trees too. All that ice sometimes causes them to lose big limbs suddenly, or fall over all together.

[michigan83]

Just wait until you see an ice storm. (rain that freezes instantly) The trees, grass, weeds, cars, everything gets coated in a thick layer of clear ice and everything sparkles like jewels. You can find pictures on the internet, but I have never seen a picutre that captures how pretty it is in real live. Just do not try to drive after an ice storm. Stayaway from trees too. All that ice sometimes causes them to lose big limbs suddenly, or fall over all together.

It's a fine line between a beautiful ice storm and an ugly one. I remember a bad ice storm about 8-10 years ago that ruined a lot of trees. The ice got so heavy that it ripped branches off and left a lot of permanent damage. The power was out for three days! I remember coming home during the storm. The power was out and it was pitch black outside. We had a lot of tall pine trees in the yard, and as I was walking from my car to the house I could hear the trees creaking and groaning under the strain of the ice. The sound was scary, and a little creepy. I was almost sure a branch was going to fall on me. When I finally got inside it was 50 degrees inside and I couldn't find a flashlight. Not a fun night. The cleanup in the following days was even less fun. Ever try throwing a pine branch into the back of a truck when it's coated with ice? It's almost impossible!

Moral of the story: I love snow, but I dread ice storms, unless it's only a minor one.

[MICoastieMom]

Even prettier than an ice storm is a hoarfrost. I had my dad talk about them, but I had no idea what he was talking about until I saw one personally, and thank goodness he was there to explain to me what I was witnessing. I don't think they occur very often as I have only seen one, and that was nearly 35 years ago. In our case, it was as a cloud of fog that silently moved across the fields and through our yard and garden, bejeweling every twig and fencepost in a blanket of of diamonds. In a matter of moments, our unadorned yard was mystically transformed from blah into a magical fairieland. It was quite a powerful experience to witness the wonderousness of Mother Nature in action.

Hoarfrost (glossary definition)

[Coldjensens]

Looking at online photos of Hoarfrost, it looks like the same thing that I was referring to as an ice storm. I have never seen the fog cloud the freezes like you describe. But I have often seen trees looking exactly like what they show for photos of "hoarfrost" Could it be just a different name for the same thing?

Sometimes an ice storm does take down lots of trees and limbs, but it is still pretty. A sunrise or set through a tree coated in ice is spectacular.

If you live in a rural area where you lose power during storms, I would buy a generator. You can get a 5500 watt unit for about $300. It will not power much, but is can help keep your house from freezing and pipes from bursting. Just do nto be one of those idiots who try to run one inside the house, or who place it so close to teh house that the exhaust fumes go inside.

[idw2s]

Our realtor told us about hoarfrost. I've seen some pictures of the ice-covered trees, and I'm excited for when we'll get to see one.

I've been toying with getting a generator this year, I want one of those that sits outside and comes on automatically from my propane, since I have mobility issues, but... I don't think it's happening this year.

I'm hoping we make it through the rest of winter without any major power outages....

Sometime between spring and summer, maybe. Probably a better time to do it anyway. It would be nice to know that at least the furnace, well and a few lights can be powered. I hate to think of how much propane that might use tho....

Today we had fat, sassy little flakes for a while, gusting about in the back of the house, but in the front of the house, the wind almost seems to be blocked between the trees and the house, so while they were going diagonally in back, they were almost suspended in mid-air in the front.

LOL... I told my husband I want to grab a cup of something hot and watch the snowflakes dance. He told me to go ahead, but right now my freezer is where my couch will go, my couch is in pieces in front of the window, and until we get the horses here, I am a woman possessed. Packing, organizing, (horsey) nesting!

Then I can rest. Hopefully we'll get more dancing snowflakes by the time my creaky old bones are done.

[MICoastieMom]

CJ, to my way of thinking an ice storm involves sleet and/or freezing rain; the aftermath of which are large 'drops' of ice which coat trees, lightpoles, and powerlines. A hoarfrost is much more subtle. It's a crude analogy, but it's like comparing the prisms from a large hanging chandelier to the tiny rhinestones on a wedding gown.

[alleyyooper]

Front yard is picture beautiful this morning in the sun after the snow ended yesterday.


The hoar frost from several days ago is also picture pretty.











I my self don't care for ice storms. Dangerous to be out on the roads, walking in the woods or for that matter any place. No place to stock pile the wood ashes or it wouldn't be so bad with a layer on the ice. Give me several feet of snow at once and keep the ice.

Al