Winter, the most wonderful time of the year… yeah, sure. For some people, the winter season is a magical time of year, the elite holidays, the fluffy snow, and the cozy hot chocolate after sledding. For others, winter might not be the best, with its muddy and slushy snow, freezing mornings, ice on the roads, and car doors frozen shut. There is unquestionably a huge deal of both great and not-so-great things about winter.
The cold air and wind mixture, is also known as the worst possible weather. The kind of weather most people dread all year. That is what it is like all winter long in the Northern U.S. and other cold regions of the world. For most of the winter season, people are just stuck inside bored out of their minds, racking their brain on what they should do.
The first couple weeks of winter may be fun, the new snow, sledding for the first time in months, and getting to turn on the fireplace after a long snowball fight. After that though, the season gets really dull and tedious. Especially in Michigan because winter can last anywhere from three to five months. That is almost half of the year full of freezing weather and not much to do.
Not to mention that winter is an absolute nightmare for new drivers. In 2019, nearly 15 percent of all car crashes were during winter months. Michigan driving statistics alerts drivers on which roads to avoid in order to stay as safe as possible. In addition to the poor weather conditions on the roads, driver’s education doesn’t teach that much about what to do in snowy weather. New drivers don’t get much experience on snowy and icy roads before they receive their license, which is not very safe for anyone on the roads.
During the winter time, the days become shorter. There are only about nine hours of daylight for most of the winter. When the sun goes down earlier, it causes people to shut down earlier. For most people, when it gets dark outside, it is time to start winding down and getting ready for bed. With the sun going down at six p.m., though, it is hard fighting to stay awake so early into the night. Not seeing the sun as much is miserable as well, just a couple of days into the Michigan winter, and the warm sun is already missed so much.
Possibly the worst part about winter is having to get out of bed when it is freezing cold in the house. Waking up early is dreadful as is, but having to get up early and step out of a warm bed into a chilly house is just so much worse. Some people may even have to set their alarms a few minutes earlier than their normal wake-up time just because they just lay in their bed for so much longer than usual.
Despite all of the negatives, winter can be fun. But the great things about winter are usually the festive activities, definitely not the weather. If winter wasn’t so long in Michigan, it would certainly be a more tolerable time of year. Overall though, not much about the freezing Michigan wintertime is enjoyable.
