As I sit here at my computer composing a post for our website, I am feeling a bit guilty because at home, friends and family are battling a severe winter storm with heavy snow and dropping, bitterly-cold temperatures. One part of me wants to be there to do my part to help them get through this. Another inner voice says, “They will be fine. They are perfectly capable of weathering the storm’ and they will be stronger because of it.” If I were just across town as I usually am, I don’t know which nagging voice would win’ but I am not. I am 18 hours away. I have to let go, and let them do what they need to do to grow. They will be fine!

It has been a hard winter down here in Crystal River, Florida. Several nights in a row were in the low 30’s, and one night there was a hard freeze at 28 degrees. But today, with the high expected to be 80, perhaps we can say good-by to winter. I know many of you find yourselves battling cold and once-in-a-decade snowfalls. I can empathize with you. With over 3/4 of a century under my belt, I have seen a lot of cold winters and hot summers. They are nothing new. No, I didn’t have to trudge 10 miles in the knee deep snow to get to school, and it was not uphill each way, but I did walk to school. I can’t remember EVER getting a ride to grade school. I’m sure there were a few exceptions, but I don’t remember them.

I remember a heavy snowstorm when I was in 7th grade. I delivered newspapers on my bicycle every morning and I had wrapped my bicycle tires with window sash chain so I could ride through the snow. After getting my papers out, I hopped on my now all-terrain bike and rode off to school through the snow. When I got there, I found the school closed! That was the year the power was out for almost a week, and we kept the house warm with the gas log in the living room fireplace.

I remember putting snow tires on my MG so I could get back and forth to high school. That was before front wheel drive, and about the only 4-W-Drives were Jeeps. I even had chains for my MG for heavy snow. I remember the winter of 77-78 just after our first daughter was born. The power was out for several days, and we were keeping warm with the fireplace and open oven. Taking care of a newborn in those conditions was certainly a challenge. With no electricity for the refrigerator, perishables were outside stuffed into snow drifts.

One year, I was doing Radon testing with my home inspection business. This was a timed testing period. I had to place the testing equipment one day and then pick it up exactly 3 days later. Once on pick-up day, we were in the middle of a blizzard. I had a test in progress 60 miles away in Bloomington. I had a Jeep, and figured I could get through. I will never forget the feeling of complete whiteout as I passed Lincoln. I could not even see the front of the jeep with any clarity. I was afraid to pull over for fear someone following my lights would simply follow me and run into me when I stopped. I could not see any turn offs to get off the road. I put on my flashers and just kept creeping along. I drove out of the blizzard conditions and got to the radon test location retrieval safe and sound. The drive back was relatively uneventful. Nobody was on the road. There were cars and trucks in the ditches all along the road especially around the Lincoln exit. I could see police cars with flashing lights around most of the entrance ramps. I suspected there were accidents at these intersections due to the blind conditions. It wasn’t until I got back to Springfield that I discovered I-55 was closed to all traffic. According to an on-the-spot TV reporter who was reporting from one of the overpasses, “The highway is closed to all traffic but there seems to be one crazy driver in a dark-blue Jeep Cherokee.” Fortunately, he could not read the House Doctor sign on the side of the Jeep. Apparently, I was on TV. Had I known, I would have at least waved at the camera.

I don’t want to sound like I was the only one coping with hard winter. We all did! The younger people checked on the older ones and made sure their walks and drives were open. So, as soon as the streets were open, they could get out. I can remember many cold mornings when it had snowed all night. I would get up before six and being one of the few snow blower owners, I would start at my house and plow down to both corners, so at least the walks were open.

I can remember trying to finish shingling a roof when a cold freezing rain was turning a nice autumn into winter. I also remember trying to get a room addition exterior finished after another winter blast. It took all day to dig a 4 foot long trench for an electric line in frozen soil. I had no idea the ground could be so hard. I never complained much about my construction work; except when fighting the cold weather while doing a job in winter that would be so easy in warm weather.

When Marilyn and I considered bringing the camper down to Florida for the winter, all these winter nightmares came to mind, and I said, I think I have paid my dues. Somebody else will just have to cope with winter. I have done my share. So, yes I can empathize with those of you who are forced to endure the northern winter. I have been there. My hat is off to every service worker who steps up and takes care of those who can’t, especially in inclement weather. But for me, I think I deserve to spend what few winters I have left in relative comfort.

Come on down, the weather is fine!