Here we go...

I live in Buffalo, NY. This town is known for several things. Chicken Wings, Da Bills and their Super Bowl losses, and snow.

We have a reputation as a broke down steel town and that's true too, but it is still an amazing city to live in. We have one of the best theatre communities I've ever seen with at least a dozen small companies doing all sorts of different plays, a great original music community, and some of the best regional food I've had anywhere. (Unreal ethnic food, Polish, German, Italian - really excellent stuff)

But what most people know about Buffalo is that it snows here. Sometimes a lot.

When I was seventeen (in 1977), we had the Blizzard of '77. It was amazingly bad. We had a boat load of snow with sustained high winds for 3-4 days. Lots of people got stranded, some died in their cars when they were buried in the snow. Things like that stick in the public consciousness, so I guess it's no wonder everyone associates Buffalo with huge amounts of snow. (Malibu will be known for the fires as much as the beaches, especially after this year) I was stuck at my house and my job was to try to keep the driveway clear. I was out shoveling for the third time of the day and went for a bit of a walk with a couple of my neighborhood friends.

We lived near a viaduct where a highway ran parallel to our house and I walked down to check it out. The wind had blown the snow over the dip in the road so that I had to duck to go under the bridges. It was unreal. There were three bridges and the snow had just about filled in the entire area below all three. On the other side of the third bridge, as the road was coming up the other side, I tripped - on an antennae from a car buried in the snow. My friends and I dug the car out (It was bitter cold, so the snow was powdery) just to see if someone was inside. (No one was - that would have been really creepy and horrible).

We spent a bit of time jumping from the bridges into the powder just for fun. The snow had drifted over the second floor windows of the back of my house up to the roof line. It was surreal.

Now there is some arctic air coming down from our Canadian friends (just 15 min. and you're in Canada), sweeping over the lake and more than likely dropping snow on us. Sure it snows, but we deal. And it's really not too bad most of the time, sometimes it's beautiful. We have ski resorts and all kinds of stuff to do in the winter. Mostly I hang out with my wife, drink wine and hang out in front of a fire. Which to me, is a really nice way to enjoy the winter.

It's what you get when you live here, and the people here are a tough bunch. I can't count the number of times people have helped push each other out of snow banks and help clear each other's driveways. It's just what you do.

I've lived other places and I came back. The only time I really mind the winter is when it won't let go. When it's March and gray and spring just can't break through.

Buffalo is getting smaller, and a bit small time-y now, and it has it share of problems. But this is a great community to live and raise a family and I wouldn't live anywhere else!

So, let it snow. I've got shovels, I've got a snow blower.

And I just bought a case of pretty good wine....
m.