[GinaJ]

For the person with SAD have you thought of getting one of those lamps that is suppose to help? I know little about them or the expense but my friend who has this was talking about it. I have suffered from depression but usually it is all year. It is harder though in the winter to push one self.

[Da'one]

Back when I was a kid I do remember winter lasting 6 months. I remember trick or treating with my costume on over my winter boots, pants, coat, etc. My uncle's Birthday falls on May 4th & I remember snow falling on his birthday a few years. I am wondering if all of these snow lovers have lived here all their lives? I have & I do not mind the winter weather until about the 3rd month in & then it is old. Also wondering if these snow lovers have to shovel their own walks/yards? Brush snow of their vehicles? I will also say it depends on the winter too. When we get constant snowfall after snowfall it gets boring. If we can go a few days in between that is another story. Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by Da'one

Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

That would be from Monroe to Copper Harbor, right?

[Michigansnowflake]

Originally Posted by Da'one

Back when I was a kid I do remember winter lasting 6 months. I remember trick or treating with my costume on over my winter boots, pants, coat, etc. My uncle's Birthday falls on May 4th & I remember snow falling on his birthday a few years. I am wondering if all of these snow lovers have lived here all their lives? I have & I do not mind the winter weather until about the 3rd month in & then it is old. Also wondering if these snow lovers have to shovel their own walks/yards? Brush snow of their vehicles? I will also say it depends on the winter too. When we get constant snowfall after snowfall it gets boring. If we can go a few days in between that is another story. Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

I am definetely in the snowbelt. I have lived in Michigan all my life. I shovel our deck and snow blow our driveway, dont mind a bit. I guess I am just one of the few people who like snow and dont mind it.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Da'one

Back when I was a kid I do remember winter lasting 6 months. I remember trick or treating with my costume on over my winter boots, pants, coat, etc. My uncle's Birthday falls on May 4th & I remember snow falling on his birthday a few years. I am wondering if all of these snow lovers have lived here all their lives? I have & I do not mind the winter weather until about the 3rd month in & then it is old. Also wondering if these snow lovers have to shovel their own walks/yards? Brush snow of their vehicles? I will also say it depends on the winter too. When we get constant snowfall after snowfall it gets boring. If we can go a few days in between that is another story. Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

Been here the majority of my life, and the time spent outside of Michigan was mostly in far northern Maine. Other than a year in Marshall I have never lived further south in Michigan than the Ludington area. Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, & Cadillac are the other places I spent most of my time. I would say I have spent some time in snowy area of the state, and I still like winter. Notice I didn't say I loved winter. Winter is a time of year that I get to go sledding with my kids and snowball fights. Skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. Sitting out on a crisp evening listening to the trees creak and groan with the cold is great. The other side of winter is ice and snow on the roads, shoveling, snowblowing, and heating the house. That side I don't care for at all, but put up with them because the payoff in the other areas is worth it to me and my family. I agree that after about 3 months it is getting old, but by then we are almost done anyway now and only have another month or two of snow to deal with.

[jeeg]

Originally Posted by Da'one

I am wondering if all of these snow lovers have lived here all their lives? I have & I do not mind the winter weather until about the 3rd month in & then it is old. Also wondering if these snow lovers have to shovel their own walks/yards? Brush snow of their vehicles? I will also say it depends on the winter too. When we get constant snowfall after snowfall it gets boring. If we can go a few days in between that is another story. Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

With the exception of 5 years in San Diego as a kid, and 1 year in Denver as a young adult, I have most my entire life in Michigan (33 yrs). We keep moving further north because we love winters.
We now live in the northern part of Michigans Upper Peninsula (Marquette County) and yes we do all of our own shoveling. We do not own a 4X4. We do not even own a snowblower yet. We live out in the country so our driveway is a bit longer then you find in the city here.
I'm up in the hills outside of Marquette and some estimates say we average from 160 - 200 inches of snow a winter.
Like I've said before, you don't need a gym membership!!

(we are shopping around for a good snowblower this year if we can afford one)

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by jeeg

(we are shopping around for a good snowblower this year if we can afford one)

Stay away from the White snowblower. Honest to God, I was having problems with mine right after I bought it and ended up on the phone with one of their Engineers. He told me "Of course you are going to have a problem with the chute, and wheel releases (to make turning easier) freezing if you use it below 32 degrees." I asked nicely if he understood we were talking about a SNOWBLOWER and not a lawnmower. He said that yes he understood that because he was on the design team for that model and that they weren't designed to be used very often below freezing, and for sure not below 0. It ended up in the dump totally trashed and unrepairable after 4 seasons. A fight the whole time to keep it running and blowing snow for an entire winter. I am back to using my 30 year old Toro, and it works fine. Smokes like a steam locomotive and used almost as much oil as it does gas, but it starts every single time and blows more snow than that $1300 POS White ever did.

[jeeg]

Wow!! Thanks for the heads up!

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Da'one

Back when I was a kid I do remember winter lasting 6 months. I remember trick or treating with my costume on over my winter boots, pants, coat, etc. My uncle's Birthday falls on May 4th & I remember snow falling on his birthday a few years. I am wondering if all of these snow lovers have lived here all their lives? I have & I do not mind the winter weather until about the 3rd month in & then it is old. Also wondering if these snow lovers have to shovel their own walks/yards? Brush snow of their vehicles? I will also say it depends on the winter too. When we get constant snowfall after snowfall it gets boring. If we can go a few days in between that is another story. Also wondering how many of you live on the snowbelt of MI?

Yes, I live in the "snow belt". I do remember a few times growing up and having to put on coats under our costumes on Halloween, but not every year. Our kids have had to dress warm for most of the Halloweens that I can remember. Just like I have seen a dusting of snow in late April (can't remember in May), but it didn't even stay on the ground overnight. A few years ago, when Easter came early, we did get a freak snowfall here on Easter day. Now that was fun trying to do an Easter Egg hunt in.

I shovel and snowblow the driveway and sidewalk myself. It's about as often as mowing the lawn in the Summer (once a week maybe), but takes less time. I also don't usually get out the snowblower until mid-January through early March. We have a garage so no neither of us have to brush our cars off (unless we get an all day snowfall while at work).

Hope that helps.

Jeeg, there's a guy down the road from us with 4 or 5 snowblowers for sale. I'm not sure where he got them all. Too bad you're in the UP.

[snoshoewalkr]

"I am definetely in the snowbelt. I have lived in Michigan all my life. I shovel our deck and snow blow our driveway, dont mind a bit. I guess I am just one of the few people who like snow and dont mind it."

Same here! However, we now have a plow on our truck, and I LOVE to plow (except not at 5am before going to work!) I have posted before that I am quite active outdoors in all seasons, and I think that is why winters don't bother me very much...I just keep on with my routines.