Winter is finally here

Picture 1: An atypical Kagoshima winter day (note the still-verdant greenery)

Now that the snow is (finally!) falling here in Minnesota, I realize that I kind of missed Minnesota winters. Sure, I was also glad to not have to deal with the difficulties -- winter driving, badly insulated apartment -- but there was a small bit of homesickness in living in a Japanese winter.

This first picture was taken during the one three-day period when we got snow in Kagoshima. That's three days in three YEARS that we had snow on the ground. I feared for my life when walking to work. Narrow roads + people inexperienced in winter driving = a lot of slip-sliding around.


Picture 2: A typical Tottori winter

Living in Tottori, which is at about the middle of Honshu, on the northern coast, I could look forward to snow every year. Not nearly as bad as the winters of my youth, of course. It was at first amusing then somewhat annoying when my boss would refuse to let me drive during the winter. I've been driving in snow a lot longer than she has...

(I should clarify: It was a company car, so they could set any rules they wanted to, and that was okay. There were enough dry days during winter that I could still go to the grocery store, etc.)

Now, finally, a Minnesota winter. I'm sure that come tomorrow, when the time comes for me to drive to work, the nostalgia factor will be long worn-off.

I'm reminded of a Scott Hansen comedy routine I saw years ago. He said something like this: We all feel the same way about winter. We all feel the same way about that first snowfall. We open the curtains, and look out at that soft white blanket covering the ground, and we all think the same thing. "Oh, $#!+."

Break out the shovels!