You know Old Man Winter has overstayed his welcome when even a middle school student will say he doesn’t want any more snow days.
We love the sugar-frosted dusting of a first snow in the treetops along Tulip Avenue, but after that first dusting, it tends to get dirty and dangerous. Ice that glitters in the branches or along telephone lines starts melt, breaking off branches and denting cars parked in the street below. Did we mention cars? Winter driving is all problems. At times Floral Park feels like an episode of Ice Road Truckers. The potholes—plenty deep and getting deeper—make every drive an “off-road” experience. Salt and sand eat away chassis. Both black and white ice send us skidding. And they all conspire to send us to the mechanic to spend money. Did we mention money? We just got our bills from National Grid and fuel oil suppliers. Harumph. And we just hate being cold all the time.
Enough is enough. Let us hope that the latest snowstorm is the last and that Malverne Mel and Holstville Hal, Long Island’s bellwether groundhogs, were right: Spring is coming early this year.
