By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Can we please stop talking about all the snow. As residents of this god forsaken wasteland at the edge of the Arctic circle, where year after year new snowfall records are set, you would think folks would stop getting so excited about snow. This year is worse that most because our snow falls have crept their way into the national 24 hour news cycle.

To all my friends and family and loved ones who live far from Upstate New York, I am safe. Nearly 12 feet of snow fell and yet, you wouldn’t even know it. Simply, the snow fell 30 minutes north of Syracuse; leaving the City and environs with snow measurable in but a handful of inches. Twenty miles to the north, they measured it in hundreds of inches. At the same time, 20 minutes north is rural rangeland. This must be the first time we had a snow storm in a wilderness and the whole world is watching and taking great interest.

Then there is the whole global warming argument. Listening to right wing spit radio, they turn to us Upstaters and hold us out as examples of Al Gore’s error. The short version is that our winter started very late here. Until January 10th, we had warm temperatures and not a flake of snow had fallen. Lake Ontario did not freeze over or get cold and so when an artic blast of cold air came rushing down over the warmer lake waters, it set up the Lake Effect Snow Machine which is what brought us the record snowfalls. So yes, it appears that global temperature changes are impacting us here as well. For the record, it has snowed every day since January 10, 2007 with no end in sight.

As the meat and potatoes of the storm came ashore last week and sat parked over the north country, of course it fell upon me to honor my professional commitments. Last Thursday morning when I left at 6:00 for Watertown, I barely made it out of the City when State Police closed the highway due to snow. The next day, last Friday morning, I did make it into Fulton and while driving in was harrowing due to blowing snow and white out conditions, it was no big deal. Expecting a disaster zone, instead I saw clear roads, shoveled parking lots, and mounds of snow so high, you could not see getting around or making turns. But, as for a crisis, Fulton seemed to have weathered the storm just fine – at least from what I saw.

Finally a major Nor’easter hit the East which always generates snow storms up here. For the first time this season, Syracuse and the entire region got buried under 3 feet of fresh snow. Starting Tuesday night and continuing all day Wednesday, schools were closed and Syracuse was an unplowed traffic snarled mess. Despite heavy snow falls and white outs everywhere, only Syracuse seems to be unable to clear snow from its streets. I got stuck and had to fight my way out of so many snow piled streets, I doubt my tires have any tread left on them. More than once did I travel down a side street sideways because that was the only traction I could get.

Then came the dilemma: With an early morning court appearance today Thursday in Watertown and with wind and snow expected to pick up and get worse in the north country and given that the snow storm was supposedly localized to the southern portion of the State, I figured I would take a slow drive up and spend the night in a hotel so as to avoid yet another cancellation of the same court case. It was going to be a fun drive as I expected to pass through areas supposedly hardest hit by the Lake Effect storm of the week earlier … Parish, Pulaski, Redfield.

Something about the snow made driving unusually treacherous. For some reason my tires were not holding the road at any speed. The further north I drove, the harsher the wind became. By the time I got to Parish, visibility was less than half a mile in any direction and my driving speeds were between 30 and 40 on the open highway. Still, the wind and ice had me fishtailing, spinning, and wiping out over and over. I managed to hit the guard rail just once and barely missed ending up in more than once ditch. (I opted for the guardrail over the ditch). It was a harrowing stressful, white knuckled drive. And, it was cold … barely five degrees with blowing gusting wind. If you have seen dust devils spiraling around in the summertime; well, I saw snow devils … the same wind generated phenomena … dancing all over the highway and blowing me with the gusto of a high priced whore.

I did stop at the Grist Mill in Parish. This is the world’s greatest diner. In addition to gas and to checking the damage to the truck, I was able to get a good look around at how really high were piled the mountains of snow. It appeared that the snow was plowed into piles nearly twice as high as a tractor trailer. It was really unbelievable how deep it was.

After two and a half hours of fighting the elements, I finally made it to Watertown. Just like Syracuse, they don’t believe in plowing streets or parking lots here and with my blood pressure topping out and after fighting for 15 min just to park and not be stuck, I finally crawled in to my room, a warm meal, and then to dreamland.

Despite all of this, I just do not understand how folks here can complain about the weather. It is as if there is nothing else to talk about or they live in a dreamworld where every winter is like their first winter.

For me, all I ever say about inclement weather is, “hey, it aint snowing.” If it is then I add, “Hey it could be worse, we could be in Baghdad.”

So grab your boots, your shovels, and your ice scrapers and get to work. Quit whining and bellyaching. With November and December and half of January as warm and wonderful as they were, to complain now about the weather is shameful. Suck it up and move on. Remember, only eight more months until winter.