The truth about moving to New England

[tutu_sue]

Any opinions expressed below are not necessarily that of the poster - tee hee

Dear Diary:

AUG. 1
Moved to our new home in Massachusetts. It is so beautiful here. The city is so picturesque. Can hardly wait to see it covered with snow. I LOVE IT HERE

OCT. 14
New England is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves are turning all different colors. I love the shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the hills and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Certainly they are the most peaceful animals on earth. This must be paradise. I LOVE IT HERE.

NOV. 11
Deer season will open soon. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill such an elegant creature. The very symbol of peace and tranquillity. Hope it will snow soon. I LOVE IT HERE.

DEC. 2
It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed in white. It looked like a postcard. Went outside and cleaned snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a snowball fight today (I won). When the snowplow came by we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. Mother Nature in perfect harmony. I LOVE IT HERE.

DEC. 12
More snow last night. I love it. The snowplow did his trick again that rascal. A winter wonderland. I LOVE IT HERE.

DEC. 19
Snowed again last night. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work this time. I'm exhausted from shoveling. Freaking Snowplow!

DEC. 22
More of that white crap fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands from shoveling. I think the snowplow hides around the corner and waits until I'm done shoveling. I'm starting to hate that guy.

DEC. 25
"White Christmas" my busted butt. More freaking snow. If I ever get my hands on that moron who drives that snowplow, I swear I will castrate the dumb jerk. Don't know why they don't use more salt on this freaking ice.

DEC. 28
More of the same crap last night. Been inside since Christmas day except for when "Snowplow Harry" comes by. Can't go anywhere. The car is buried in a mountain of white crap. The weatherman says expect another 10 inches tonight. Do you know how many shovels-full of snow 10 inches is?

JAN. 1
Happy freaking New Year. The weatherman was wrong (AGAIN). We got 34 freaking inches of snow this time. At this rate it won't melt until the 4th of July. The snowplow got stuck down the road and the jerk had the nerve to come to the door and ask to borrow my shovel. I told him I broke 6 shovels already, shoveling out all the crap he plowed into my driveway. I broke the 7th shovel over his head.

JAN. 4
Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on the way back a deer ran out in front of the car and I hit the damn thing. Did about $3,000.00 damage to the car. Wish the hunters would have killed them all last November.

MAY 3
Took the car to the garage in town today. Would you believe the body is rotting away from all the salt they keep dumping all over the roads. It really looks like a piece of crap.

MAY 10
Moved to Florida today. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to live in the God forsaken State of Massachusetts.

 

[webbie]

Actually, that is quite close.... but more like this.

November - still pretty nice out - getting ready for the holidays, hope it snows because the landscape is starting to look bleak.

December - the holidays and family visits along with shopping for gifts are keeping me busy - wow, it snowed a little, maybe even a lot. No big deal - maybe there will be some decent early skiing this year.

Jan. - Post Holiday depression sets in, but let's hope that the snow sticks around so we can snow shoe through the woods. Great - the holiday skiers are gone and we have the mountain to ourselves on weekdays.

Feb - Slight hint of a longer day - bit of sun, but frigid. Getting a little tired of either:
Shoveling
or
Lack of Shoveling....if it is all rain and mush.
Thinking about getting away right about now....

March - A month for two things - getting away as much as possible, and when conditions allow getting in some decent skiing cause the days are brighter.

April - it sounds good...even the name of the month, but April in New England is March everywhere else.

May - Oct - What a delightful place again.

Those who move to Fl do so at their own risk. No hills, and nothing but mile after mile of shopping centers and air conditioning.

 

[jqgs214]

Love that every time I read it.

 

[smirnov3]

The thing about snow in (Easter) MA:

1) It snows

2) You shovel, thinking, "well I'm busting my back, at least it will look pretty for a while"

2) Next day, all the snow melts, leaving brown mush.

3) Day after that, it snows again

4) repeat until march

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've seen the original poster's tale located up here in the UP (Michigan) as well. As a kid, we had snow typically from thanksgiving (traditional first day of skiing) until may. Except lately, from what I hear (I'm only there at xmas break) it's more like

November: cold rain, cold rain, massive snow dump, cold rain, no more snow
December: Light snow mixed with enough rain and/or warm temps to keep me from enjoying the break
January-February: massive snow dumps, frigid temps
March: snow melts
April: snow gone, flowers thinking about blooming, massive 3-day (50") snow dump, then snow melts again

It still beats the (alleged) MD winter, which is like Anton's but without the "repeat" part. Winter without snow is like NA beer. Mostly pointless.

 

[Todd]

I've seen that one before, makes me laugh every time. Today it's in the lower 90's and snow sounds so good, But still don't miss those 300" snowfall winters when I lived in the UP.

 

[webbie]

All kidding aside, I really like the climate in Western Ma. - I think eastern is actually worse, since they may get more slush and rain in the winter, plus higher coastal winds....

And nothing wrong with cozying up inside with a good book or web site.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've seen that one before, makes me laugh every time. Today it's in the lower 90's and snow sounds so good, But still don't miss those 300" snowfall winters when I lived in the UP.

I do miss it, or at least I've convinced myself that I do. But it's been a few years now. Unfortunately if the trends of the last 30 years continue (water temps up 5 degrees, air temps up 2.5), they say the UP will eventually have the climate of the southern midwest or mid-atlantic. 90's here as well on the shores of Gitche Gumee. Bring on the snow!

 

[BrotherBart]

For Virginia pick any day in the OP and just say cold rain and an 800 foot driveway turned to slop for six months. Except when it turns into 800 feet of ice covered down hill S-curves. With a telephone pole on the outside of the first curve.

One thing about retirement. Don't have to put the boots on and leave the car at the bottom of the driveway every night and hike up to the house.

Just toss another split in the stove and turn on the TV news and watch the 36 mile commute from hell that used to be.

 

[northwinds]

Here's the uncyclopedia's reference on Wisconsin's winter:

Winter:

Taking as long as eleven months and three weeks, winter dominates the calendar in Wisconsin. During winter the entire state is covered in a sheet of ice several miles thick. To get from their homes to the corner store to buy milk and some cheese, Cheeseheads drive their pickup trucks in the tunnels they hack through the ice. It was these holes in the ice which gave Wisconsin cheese magnate Eugene "Stinky" Onshoncomowoggon the idea for Swiss cheese.

Almost Winter, Still Winter:

The Sunday before winter is locally known as Almost Winter. Temperatures hover in the forties, which is why Wisconsinites can still be seen in shorts and tank tops, trying to soak up the last little bit of Indian summer.

The Saturday after winter, when people are still chipping ice off the ends of their noses, is known as Still Winter.

Road Construction:

The week from Monday to Friday between Almost Winter and Still Winter is the one week that Cheeseheads take off from work to go camping. It's also the week that construction crews throw up cone zones and dig up every major road from Kenosha to Superior, so everybody spends their vacation in traffic jams on the Interstate highways.

 

[elkimmeg]

Scientist have recently discovered that other planets in our solar system are experiencing warmer than normal temps. So far there has been no communications with their residents to confirm
if green house gasses are the cause. Some scientist think it is due to a 21 year solar cycle. This is in no way a post for all to lessen energy conservation, but to keep improving our planet.

We must reduce greenhous gasses but increasing MPGs at 6.5% for year 2022 it not what I call responsible energy policy. Proof in 1979 by year 1985 we had the technology to have 45mpg fleet average. Now we want to accept 32mpgs in 2022.

Maybe we are in a solar cycle explains the winters we have it was warn to start then finished colder than normal end result .5 degrees below normal Snow fall also happened all at the end of winter.

Winter in Ma allows me to xcountry ski with my wife and labador retriver No snow and cold enough ice skating on the ponds. No ice no snow great conditions for processing firewood.

 

[BrotherBart]

Heaven forbid that we get a winter that is different than normal. Oh by the way. What is a normal winter? I ain't seen two just alike in 60 years. Of course I have heard sixty times that how the summer went meant something about how the winter would go. How the winter went meant how the winters for the rest of eternity would go etc.

Mother Nature is a mother. No getting around it.

 

[Xena]

Lol. First time I saw that circulating around the internet was
in 1991. At that time, the story revolved around Vermont,
not Massachusetts. My how things change. ;-)

....what the hell am I doing on hearth.com in July????
I'm going out for a late night ride on the scooter now. :lol:

 

[DiscoInferno]

No such thing as "normal" weather (in the colloquial sense) in the UP, where temps can range from -30 to over 100 degrees F. But it's a fact that the average temperature of Lake Superior has risen 5 degrees and the average air temperature here has risen by 2.5 degrees. So "normal" meaning "average" is changing up here; this is local warming, not necessarily global. I'm not saying why it's happening, not trying to get to the ash can, just saying that the winters I grew up with (which the OP essentially described) may be fleeting.

 

[elkimmeg]

Lol. First time I saw that circulating around the internet was
in 1991. At that time, the story revolved around Vermont,
not Massachusetts. My how things change. ;-)

....what the hell am I doing on hearth.com in July????
I'm going out for a late night ride on the scooter now. :lol:

Hey Zeta how the boat and the riding going catch any stripers welcome back

Btw can you start another post about your pellet acquisitions via the internet.

 

[begreen]

One thing spot on is the salt corrosion. There are many aspects of New England I still love, but frozen bolts on brakes and mufflers isn't among them.

 

[DiscoInferno]

One thing spot on is the salt corrosion. There are many aspects of New England I still love, but frozen bolts on brakes and mufflers isn't among them.

It's the same in the DC area, despite the lack of actual winter weather. If the forecast includes any chance of snow or freezing rain, they go out and salt the roads. Half the time there's no precip, and it just sits there until the next rain. On my pickup the power steering and brake lines have corroded through, as well as the rear differential cover and parts of the exhaust system. On the other hand, car and truck bodies are far more rust resistant than they used to be.

 

[Corie]

I can't wait to see my first Virginia winter. Everyone here says I'm going to love it. I guess we'll see. One thing is for certain though, by then I'll have an Englander wood stove keeping me toasty warm.