Growing up as I did in the Midwest, winter snow was a common occurrence. So was getting up at night to start my car in subzero weather so it would start the next day, or needing help on occasion to remove snow drifts from my front door so I could get out of my apartment.
In those days, I would gaze out my window at night and wonder, why am I here? I couldn’t wait to leave the Midwest.
When I got the chance to move to Houston, a city I’d never seen before, this small-town Midwestern girl headed out happily to embrace endless heat and summer sun.
Fast forward many years. My husband Henry and I started traveling more as his kids went off to college. We discovered a life outdoors, including hiking in Switzerland in the wintertime and taking a bike tour outside of Amsterdam. When we paid for our tour the guy said, “We don’t cancel because of weather. This is The Netherlands. We put on a coat.”
That advice stayed with me as we moved to the Pacific Northwest and learned not to let a little inclement weather keep us indoors.
This year, as some of you know, we’re spending the fall and winter in New York City. Through December we wondered if winter would come at all! It was 70 degrees on Christmas Day.
I needn’t have worried. Winter has come, and all at once! We were treated to 25 inches of snow that fell between Friday and Saturday nights.
We don’t have a car in Manhattan, so unlike many poor souls we don’t need to dig it out. We also don’t have to shovel. The apartment is toasty warm. So…we get to just enjoy the snow!
Here’s a video of some guys we saw “skiing” down the avenues as the car ban went into effect.
I’m sure if the entire winter were like this, we wouldn’t enjoy it. But for now, we’re having a great time!
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What She Knew is now available for pre-order! The ebook version is available February 29, and the paperback release date is March 29. Foreword Clarion Reviews calls is “a poignant, personal read.”