When I was an active member of the local Sierra Club back in 1985, for that year I became a guest editorial writer for the Corry Journal in Corry, PA. Given climate change, this is a now-nostalgic piece I wrote back then (slightly amended for today’s sensibilities):
The weatherman will tell you about the shifting jet stream, about high and low pressure systems, about warm lake waters meeting cold Canadian winds. You can go on believing the traditional, scientific explanation for Erie County’s winter weather woes, or you can examine the problem rationally and logically and arrive at the real reason for our recent bad weather: Skiers.
Skiers are dangerous people. They pray for snowfalls in quantities that would cause an Aleut to faint, and they usually get just what they ask for. Skiers put in orders for blizzards well in advance of the season; they begin chanting their mantra, “THINK SNOW!”, just after Memorial Day.
Now, you and I know the Almighty must get awfully tired of that intense, prolonged solicitation. Skiers’ prayers must be as irritating as telephone sales pitches. I’m not at all surprised when He says, “You want snow? (WHUMP!) “You got snow — now be quiet until Spring!”
The problem is that God is egalitarian. When it rains, as the saying goes, He makes it rain on rich and poor alike, on the righteous and the sinner. When it snows, it snows on skier and shoveler alike.
Indigenous Natives in polar regions, perhaps the world’s authority on snow, have a multitude of words for snow, depending on its type. There is a word for powdery snow, one for snow suitable for building igloos, one for snow suitable for tracking game, and so on. Understandably, when you live close to nature and your livelihood and very survival depends on complex and intimate knowledge of your environment, your language will reflect that detail and complexity.
Non-skiers have a multitude of words for snow, also. A few moments of conversation with a shoveler, who is digging out their driveway for the second time because the snowplow came past after they finished the first time, will probably net you a few of those choice words, which are not meant for print in a family oriented publication.
This is not to say that snow is a useless burden on Erie Countians — specifically, on those who do not ski. Snow is a necessity to sport and commercial fishermen. Oh, I’m not considering ice-fishing, although those who enjoy that activity would be hard put to practice it in a snow-less climate.
== UPDATE: With climate change, ice fishing may become obsolete due to warmer winters and less icing over of lakes and ponds.
I’m thinking of the fish; many species of fish require the snowfalls of a usual winter to provide enough melt for their spring breeding ponds and streams. There is a catch, however. Too much snow, combined with heavy or early spring rains, can wash away breeding areas altogether, meaning fewer fish during summer and fall. (Fishermen, blame the skiers instead of your bait next time.)
Winter snow also seeps down into the soil as it melts, which helps farmers. And where there is an accessible aquifer, melting snow helps to replenish the groundwater.
Snow is useful when it melts, you might say, but what about when it’s just laying around — or blowing around — and getting in everyone’s way? Well, ask a child what good snow is. If there’s enough of it (courtesy of the skiers), you get a vacation from school. You can make snowballs that have a satisfying SPLAT! upon contact with the side of a school building, a bus, or with stuck-up Mary Lou Vandleman’s fake fur coat. YEAH!
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: From the TV Museum...you may remember this if you grew up in a northern state. Also, this is from Back-In-The-Day when being a snowflake carried no adverse political or cultural connotations.
BACK TO BLOG…
Aside from providing a relatively harmless outlet for juvenile aggression, snow gives budding artists, engineers, and architects a medium with which to express their talents and give shape to new ideas. Ring Tag — a favorite game of my own childhood — can only be played in the wintertime, because the game requires a huge, criss-crossed, circular path carefully stamped out in the snow. Creating the game site was half the fun.
The next time you’re outside in a winter early morning or at twilight, pause a moment and look at the way the light from stars, the moon, or street lamps reflects off the snow. Snowbanks glitter as though strewn with diamonds, and a feeling of peace is sure to fill your heart.
When you’ve had a quiet interlude contemplating the beauty of snow, your spirit refreshed, perhaps you can speak kindly of the skiers who have brought such wonders to Erie County. And then you can get ready to shovel some more.
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WELCOME TO ALL! THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD BLOG. LET US KNOW HOW YOUR WINTER HAS BEEN SO FAR.
PSA: Jon Stewart returns to host The Daily Show on Mondays, beginning this Monday, 2/12. Set your DVRs! Or if you have a subscription, you can watch on Paramount+ the day after.