Finding Ways to Enjoy Snow Days

As a child, I remember getting really excited for snow days.

Playing in the snow

I’d sit in front of my tv waiting for them to announce my school’s closure. I never really liked the cold, but I was eager to have the day off and meet up with friends for fun in the snow. Except, I wasn’t like all the other kids who could get by with their normal school clothes and a heavy coat. I wore layers up the wazoo – thermal leggings, thermal long sleeve, sweater, cardigan/hoodie, then jacket – and still struggled to face the cold. Still, I would insist on playing outside with my super thick yet never warm enough gloves. I’d join in sledding, snowball fights – though I never really liked those or water fights – and making snow angels.

The consequences

But the pain after my day in the snow was always relentless. My mom would resist the urge to tell me I shouldn’t have spent all that time playing outside. I would suck it up because the previous day, I felt almost like a normal child. As I grew up, I avoided the cold more. Instead of ice skating, which I’m terribly too clumsy at anyways, I choose to watch Christmas movies and drink hot cocoa while watching the snowfall from the comfort of the indoors.

Putting up with the cold

I still layer up, but now it’s my car that’s the problem. I should really invest in one of those automatic start buttons. You’d think after living in Michigan for over a decade I’d be used to the cold. Nope, I still hate being code, scraping snow off my car, and slipping on ice.

I thought I’d escape the cold when I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, for medical school. Here, it’s always at least 10 degrees warmer than Michigan, but it still snows here. I have to brace myself for the ten minutes I’ll spend treading lightly over ice and scraping the snow off my car – never prepared or expecting to have to, still using my pathetic gloves, and hoping my brief stents in the cold won’t cause me to wake up sick the next day.

Finding ways to keep warm

So far, so good. There haven’t been too many snow days here. A friend got me a giant scarf that I bundle myself up in. I upgraded my heating pad to a heated blanket, something I should have done a long time ago. And I start my car up in advance when I can.

I wonder if anyone else thinks of snow the way I do. I’m sure a lot of people find its effects on the roads and commutes to be something to consider, but does anyone else wonder how the snow will affect them the next day? Or is it just a minor inconvenience they quite literally brush off.

Avoiding the snow

Today it’s snowing, and I’ll be spending the day inside, avoiding the crazy roads and cold as much as possible. A long time ago, I would be saddened by this, but today I enjoy curling up under my heated blanket and spending snowy days indoors with loved ones.