To The Reader’s Forum:

I grew up on a small, desolate iceberg in Chautauqua County. As we used to say, “Seven months of winter and five months of bad sledding”. But at the age of twenty-five, I threw away my snow shovels and moved to a southern state. Besides my education, that was one of the most important things I’ve ever done.

Southern climes are conducive to good mental health. I no longer have to worry about snow tires and treacherous driving, or whether I’ll reach my destinations in one piece. When I moved here in 1985, I stood on my front lawn on Christmas Eve wearing shorts and a tee shirt and thought about all the poor souls in the place where my former home was. We once had dinner on the beach for Thanksgiving and that was far better than staring at icicles looming over the dining room windows. Now, my four-wheel drive truck travels through sand instead of snow, and tire chains are nonexistent.

This is a place where people play golf in January, and the sun shines brightly almost every day during the winter months. We ride our bikes and play tennis all year long, and it’s absolutely glorious.

I grew up with lake-effect snow on a regular basis, and the desperation of trying to stay warm during short walks to the grocery store. I wasted countless hours digging my vehicles out of snowbanks, always wondering if the engines would start in frigid temperatures. If you’re a skier or a snowmobile fanatic, you’ve got it made, but otherwise winter is a long haul with incessant blizzards and hours that seem like eternity.

Chautauqua County is already buried in snow, and everyone will hibernate until next April. A good share of the residents’ lives will be completely wasted. And the people who live in the dying city of Buffalo will have it even worse.

Years ago, I said “Goodbye” to the worry and the struggle and relocated to a place that’s gentle and soothing to the human condition. I’ll never go back to living in a place that resembles Siberia.

Craig Malmrose, North Carolina

Formerly of Bemus Point