An Old-Fashioned Michigan Winter!
It appears that we here are experiencing an old-fashioned Michigan winter, the kind I remember from my childhood with an abundance of cold and snow. Not the grey dreary ones we’ve had for the past ten or more years.
Arrival Amid a Snowstorm
I came into this mess after six weeks in Australia where there were a few days over 100 degrees, but the average was the 70’s. Pretty much ideal.
Our flight from LA to Detroit was four hours late. We arrived at Detroit on time but were unable to land due to ice. After two attempts to land that were aborted because of planes on the runway ahead of us that were not able to make a turn in the ice and a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to refuel, we landed somewhere on a runway and took a half an hour or so to arrive at our gate. Everyone stood up the minute the plane came to a full stop, only to be told to sit back down. The plane had missed the spot we were supposed to pull up to because of snow so we had to sit down while they moved the plane to the appropriate spot for us to disembark.
Then we had a slow journey home, going 30-40 miles an hour through a snow-covered interstate. The temperature hovered around 0 degrees, with wind chills below that for two weeks. We’ve also seen additional snow. Recently the weather gave way to a balmy 20 degrees, allowing me to take my first walk outside.
I know it is beautiful outside, all snowy and white, but I’m having a hard time appreciating it. After all, I just came back from palm trees and beaches, not to mention spending time with grandkids. It has been a challenging adjustment.
Winters – Alma, Michigan – 1960’s
I’m trying to appreciate the resemblance to winters I remember as a child; old-fashioned Michigan winters, where the ground was snow-covered from before Christmas to March (or so I remember). And not the ugly dirt covered grey snow, but the white and sparkling kind as new fallen snow repeatedly covers the old snow. Winters where I watched large flakes fall during the day through our large picture window, and floating around streetlamps at night. Or the sun sparkling against ice-covered trees. Where I would lay with my feet up against the register in our front room, trying to stay warm while reading or watching TV.
We would sled down the small hill in our corner lot. If we were lucky, we would slide past the driveway and all the way to our neighbor’s yard. We would walk home from school, climbing on mounds of snow. Playing king on the snow mound, creating massive snow forts, snow horses and snowmen, ice skating, and sliding down large hills when Dad took us sledding. All part of this old-fashioned Michigan winter. Then going inside and warming up with a cup of cocoa.
Each year there were cars getting stuck going around the turn at the end of Richmond Street. My dad would put on his coat and go out and help push them out while my mom stood in front of the picture window fretting that he was going to have a heart attack and die.
Water Winter Wonderland
The Michigan logo I remember from my youth was “Water Winter Wonderland.” Michigan truly is a water wonderland, filled with multiple lakes and rivers, surrounded by the great lakes. An old-fashioned Michigan winter truly was a wonderland. Snowing, skiing, sledding, ice sculptures, and warming up by a fire.
Of course this is an all-hits record, leaving out non-consequential days of boredom as we were confined inside. Long, long stretches of time that I filled with reading books, playing card games and board games with my siblings, and dreaming of what I would do that summer when I was no longer trapped inside.
Those truly were Hallmark winters.
Danger Amid Beauty
But then there are other memories coming back as I slide through corners on slick, snow-covered roads. Other times, driving through ice and snow, praying that I would arrive safely to my destination. Waking up to a dead car battery when temperatures went below -14 and having to wait for the temperature to get above 0 before I could start my car. My parents telling me not come visit if the roads were questionable and sending me home early that one weekend where I just missed being part of a massive road pile-up on 127.
And then, with my adult children, worrying whenever they drove somewhere during snowy weather. All were reasons for prayer.
Yes, there is beauty all around. But this beauty holds danger. I’m struck by how often beauty and danger intermingle in this world.
It doesn’t have to be. Nothing surpasses the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, both which appear daily without any danger. And a lovely forest of trees, green in the summer, multi-colored in the fall. God gives these gifts to us free of charge, free of danger.
So why do other forms of natural beauty bring danger? Maybe thrill seekers enjoy the mix, but I’m okay with everyday beauty.
An Old-Fashioned Michigan Winter
Records of temperatures over the past 30 years tell me I am not imagining things. It was colder then than now. Recent winters have been warmer than winters 60 years ago when I was a child. This means we experience this cold as colder because we are no longer acclimated to it.
I don’t miss the cold. Give me few days each year of pretty snow to enjoy, and I’m good for the rest of the winter. I don’t miss the danger of driving in snow or the fear of falling on ice when outside. An old-fashioned Michigan Christmas can stay just that as far as I’m concerned. Good memories in the past. Not one I want in my present.
My state and our world abound with beauty and wonder. We understand so little about this marvelous world and its many weather patterns. Beauty mixes with danger. Awe fills our hearts. There are hard times, challenging times of heartbreak and loss, mixed with sweet times of love and playfulness. For it all, I am grateful.
Thank you, God, for this old-fashioned Michigan winter and the memories it brings.
Whether in the midst of severe cold or extreme heat are you able to experience gratitude? What are you grateful for?
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