Snow.
You’re in good company,
@Apple fanboy and
@Scepticalscribe. I know plenty of folks that detest the stuff.
And, having lived at 7,400’ asl in the central Rockies of Colorado for a few decades, I can say I’ve probably had more than my fair share. But I’m grateful to have had the experience.
In general, dealing with the occasional snowstorm in an area where snow doesn’t persist is
way more challenging for folks than living in an area where you don’t see the lawn from mid-November until May, or sometimes June. The reasons for this include:
Road crews here aren’t equipped to deal with snow in any significant amount, because it doesn’t make fiscal sense to do otherwise. It’s easier to keep main routes open sufficiently for emergency services, and otherwise wait for the stuff to melt.
The vast majority of folks don’t have proper winter tires, because it is easier to stay home than bear the expense and inconvenience of seasonal tire changes for what are fairly rare events.
Very few drivers get enough practice to become competent driving on snow and ice.
In southern Virginia, where I now live, even a minor snowstorm (say, 6”) basically brings human endeavors to a halt. Schools close, many businesses and even local governments close, and the only people on the road are emergency services, or those in search of food or fuel. Or the few of us that actually enjoy driving in the stuff.
I suppose I have mixed feelings about snow.
I don’t miss having to have both a snow shovel and a snow blower, or owning two sets of tires and wheels for my daily driver, or not seeing the lawn until May or June. Or having to dress for a blizzard numerous times throughout the winter.
However. Snow remains, for me, a wondrous sight. The mere fact of water in the form of snowflakes falling from the sky is, to me, magical. Even more so when individual flakes are viewed under a hand lens. Depending on how finely divided the taxonomy used, there are between 35 and 120 types of snowflakes.
In sufficient amounts, snow makes a fine playground. For making a simple snowman in the yard, to skiing a steep couloir in the mountains, and everything in between.
As for driving in it, while I don’t miss the expense involved, I do enjoy driving a properly-tired sedan in snow. Even ice. Having taken two day-long ice-driving courses, I’m ok with it.
Slush is the only form of snow on the road that I find truly dangerous.
Didn’t mean to go on so. At the end of the day, I guess I miss being in snow country. Sort of.
