How's the weather?

Weather is supposed to be the safest of all topics, so I'll consider it a good starting point for my blog. It snowed last week. I got so many comments from people telling me how exciting it was and how jealous they were that I experienced snow. I was not excited, nor was I even pleased to see it. It was pretty, I will grant you, but there are some aesthetic pleasures I can do without. I looked outside and saw a bunch of tiny road hazards falling from the sky. I was thinking about getting into my car and driving in the snow. I was thinking about how I still had no snow removal devices for my car and how I did not have appropriate tires yet. While I have since purchased a snow brush/ice chipper-scraper thing and paid through the nose for snow tires, I am still absolutely paranoid about the arrival of winter. The signs are everywhere. The leaves on the trees have turned yellow and are falling in large numbers. Alternate side parking (to allow the snow plows to do their thing) officially started on Tuesday. People have been seen with heavy coats, hats, scarves and gloves. While the weather has been lovely and warm for the past several days, "Indian Summer" is upon us, and that means one thing and one thing only: winter is coming. With winter comes the new challenge of driving on snow and ice. It promises long months of short days full of bad weather. I've been told horror stories of how your toes get cold and don't warm up until spring. The changing of the seasons is not all bad, however. Fall is really lovely, at least when it isn't raining. I have experienced hay rides and a corn maze. I have an excuse to shop for new clothes that I will need to stay warm all winter. I am sure I will also enjoy sledding and snowmen. I will have a new appreciation for spring when it arrives. Once this is over, the cycle will start again, but next time around, I will have experience on my side and perhaps I will learn to appreciate snow for it's aesthetic qualities.