We got a pile of snow in my area last week. That surprised a lot of folks, mostly those who haven’t lived here very long. The old-timers took it all in stride.<br>
I would see people in town, and they would say, “Hey, this is more like the winters we used to have!”
Global warming advocates tell us a lack of snow is a sure sign of global warming. Then, when we get a big batch of snow, they don’t say a word. Why is that?<br>
We’re told that global warming is making snow a thing of the past. One news report states a United Nations committee of more than 2,000 scientists predicts warming temperatures will put many ski resorts out of business by the year 2080. The U.N. committee says this would impact economies of countries like Switzerland and might influence site selection for the Winter Olympics.<br>
I was shocked and appalled – not only about the Winter Olympics being short of snow, but also about 2,000 scientists agreeing on anything. Then I realized I won’t be skiing much in 2080, and we’ve got enough snow to keep everybody busy for quite a while.
I remember the big snowstorm we had in the Midwest when I was six years old. We had a snowdrift nearly as tall as the chicken house. My brothers used the grain shovels to dig tunnels so we could play Eskimo.<br>
A grouse-hunting friend told me he had some sheep in his pasture when that storm hit. He went out later and couldn’t find his livestock. Then, he noticed some lumps in the snow. When he began digging, he found there was a sheep under each lump.
Ohio State and Michigan played a football game during that blizzard. They couldn’t find the yard markers or the sidelines. I don’t remember who won, but the final score was two to nothing, I believe.<br>
Some folks think nasty weather helps build character, and I tend to agree with them. Our local farmers used to say, “The weather’s pretty bad around here, but it keeps the riffraff out.”<br>
Sometimes I think we’d be better off if we got one big snow every winter. That way, we could remember how to deal with it. I’m afraid we have become so dependent upon machinery that we’ve forgotten how much can be accomplished with a shovel and a small amount of sweat.<br>
I’ve had some correspondence from an old-timer in Michigan who said the farmers in his area used to shovel snow off the county roads.<br>
Folks didn’t have big machinery in those days, so the men just divvied up sections of the road and went to work.<br>
Most of them went to work, anyway. There was one fellow who never did his part, and his section of road was generally full of snow.<br>
His neighbors took a philosophical approach to the whole thing. My correspondent says everyone just figured this fellow would get to do plenty of shoveling where he was going – and it would probably be coal.<br>

Readers with questions or comments for Roger Pond may write to him in care of this publication.