This is New York State? You don’t say! And it’s winter time? No kidding! Guess that would explain the snow, huh? Could’ve fooled me. With so many crocodile tears being shed about how unexpected and unfair the weather has been around here, I figured we must be in Miami (which I was beginning to think was overrated).

Because whining in South Florida is understandable if there’s snow, slop and ice falling from the sky regularly (Hell, it’s justified if any falls there at all). Just imagine if it was winter-like for a couple weeks, or even months in that part of the country? Where it’s near tropical. Their world would be turned upside down – especially because Miami fashion is founded on pastel colors, which don’t work in a climate that flatters plaid, or so I’m told.

Us here – we’ve got no excuse to sing the blues. Our home is smack dab in snow country. It always has been. Nothing new. For five months – nearly half a year – winter is practically all we know. It’s a fact of life. Between November and April, it’s nasty – and it’s supposed to be. Yet people still act shocked when four or five inches of snow falls in mid-January. In some parts of the country, four or five inches in January is a dusting! Here, it’s a “Winter Storm.” Complete with winter snow advisories, watches and warnings. Networks send out what is today’s equivalent of an air raid siren across the television screen. And everything shuts down. States of emergency. Closed roads. School closings. Evening events postponed.

Up until a few years ago, the weather didn’t seem to matter so much. Everyone just sucked it up – the wind, sleet and snow – and pushed through. Our everyday schedules weren’t interrupted unless we literally couldn’t go anywhere – snowed in.