I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I went to college in upstate New York: Oneonta [also known as Snowneonta]. It snowed there every April or May. It was so cold that when, after weeks of freezing weather, we finally had temperatures in the high thirties [Farenheit], people went outside in T-shirts and shorts.

The climate is what sent me packing. Nine days after graduation, I was in California, and I have been here ever since [now 54 years].

My first winter here, when I heard people talking about going skiing, they were using a phrase I had never heard before, as they talked about "going to the snow."

Imagine that! Going to the snow! I loved it because in just those four words, they showed that they had a choice in the matter. You could go to the snow, or you could not.

I loved the concept, because I had always lived in a place where the snow came to me. And I never liked that one little bit.