MY View

BY JOHN McLOONE

It's my fault

I’m to blame.

This weather….It’s my fault.

I made a deal, in my own mind, with Mother Nature, and we’re all paying for it now.

Since we had an early cold snap in October, I have wished for no snow. For the most part, my wish came true. We’ve definitely had much less than normal snowfall. We’ve had plenty of cold but most of those frigid doses weren’t accompanied by blizzards. In fact, I think we were spared from having blizzards at all. I’d like to take credit for that, and I will, since I’m shouldering all the blame right now.

Right now, though, I am seeing the error of my ways. Starting today, I’m going to wish spring into existence. We’re kind of mired in that middle area now, where it’s not quite winter, and it’s certainly not spring. Last year at this time, my neighbors were doing yard work. I wasn’t. I hadn’t completely bought into the new season. I promise that if we’re blessed soon with spring, I won’t take our seasons for granted anymore.

I hate winter. I know those are strong words, but there’s really nothing I like about it. Sure, the first snowfall is pretty, but when you drive 1,000 miles most weeks, it brings with it a lot of aggravation. We’re on the road with our newspapers on Tuesday nights and Wednesdays. I don’t keep any kind of weather log, but I can just about guarantee that most of the snow we received this year was on one of those days. That’s how I know this winter is personal. The snow squalls were targeted directly at me. One Saturday morning, I was set to drive to visit family four hours away. What happened? An ice storm. I had loaded my vehicle and ran a quick errand or two prior to departure, mainly to check out the roads. I got in my vehicle, started it and put it in gear. It responded to the driveway conditions by just sliding sideways off my driveway. I wasn’t going to let the weather get the best of me, so I grabbed my duffle bag and hit the highway, navigating much of the distance behind a salt truck.

I should have foreseen that this season would be a bad one. During that early fall cold snap, my furnace died. It was a sign of things to come.

And here we are, stuck in an endless cycle of snow, rain, ice and yuck, all because of me.

Prepare yourselves for next winter, because I’m already putting a few choice blizzards on the calendar for January and February. It will be worth it though. It’s going to be 80 in March.

All because of me!