Just My Thoughts: The Only Pro to All the Cons of Winter
By JON COOK
What follows is an attempt to explain to you how I feel about winter. I will begin by giving you a list of the things that I detest about the season, that in theory is supposed to compose 25% of the calendar but often seems to last between four and six months. Please understand that the
following list should not be confused as a Top 5 (or 10) list, or any sort of ranking. This is merely an explanation of the things that make winter so very hard for me to enjoy, in absolutely no particular order.
1. It’s Cold!
When I finish a good practice, or if I want to get out and see my son play high school basketball, or pop into one of the many gyms in our area that stage great games with terrific coaches and players, I have to gear up, start my car early, and prepare myself to make the 6 mile journey home or the marginally longer trip to wherever is my destination.
2. The Ground Makes Noise When I Walk! The incessant and ridiculously annoying crunch that snow makes when I step on it irritates me to the point that I almost question whether it’s worth it to get out and see our area coaches and athletes engaged in the game that I love. To say nothing of the fact that it is incredibly slippery and borderline dangerous just walking across the parking lot most places. My wife has fallen
already this winter and the cold hard truth is that it’s nearing a miracle that I haven’t.
3. Driving My Car While Wearing a Winter Coat! Seriously… what more aggravating than that? Never mind the need to start the damn car early every time I want to leave… or the absurd amount of salt, slush and other winter gunk that keep my car looking like a disaster inside and out!
4. It’s Dark All the Time! Getting out of bed is near torture on a daily basis. Knowing I’m nearly three hours from seeing sunlight. Leaving practice or arriving at a high school game at 6:00 pm when it has already been dark for nearly an hour. It’s just draining and depressing!
5. Heating My House is Expensive! Tickets to games aren’t free… the State Tournament in March is particularly costly and paying for any sort of cable or satellite service so that I can stay in and watch Dakota Mathias or Zavier Simpson or Chris Holtmann’s surprising Buckeyes is almost as ridiculous as it is necessary. The extra heating cost just makes life harder than it needs to be.
I could go on for another five reasons at least. Shoveling sucks, scraping car windows is a pain, wearing winter hats makes it hard to have a good hair day. Ok so that one really doesn’t apply to me, but you get the point.
However, I don’t want to be a complete whiner. So in the interest of fairness and balance, I will now give you my list of the things that I like about winter. Again not so much of a list or a ranking, just more of an explanation of what I believe makes winter tolerable. As I said before, this is in no particular order.
1. It’s Basketball Season! OK… it’s also true that once in a while I get to sleep in or stay home from my job at school because of delays or cancellations.
What? That’s it… that’s my list. Don’t even try to argue with me. These are and likely always will be… Just My Thoughts