I love the descriptions of Western New York (aka Buffalo) Winters when they occur on the national news scene. “Mountains of snow,” “massive wall,” “snovember,” “snowpocolypse,” “blizzard,” “white-out”… I could go on and on (and on).
Ironically, you rarely hear reporters use the word “charming” as they describe our snowy and occasionally blizzard-like conditions
You know who DOES use the word “charming”? The Hallmark Channel. Okay, not for a snow report, but Hallmark and others have been to this area mulitiple times in recent years to film “charming” tales of princes, princesses, royalty and Christmas; and most recently, a Buffalo Bills-themed holiday love story.
Usually, filming takes place in East Aurora (“EA” to Mr and me), just south of Buffalo. One of our favorite date spots, EA is a short, 20-minute drive from our home and we make that drive regularly. (Actually, I wrote about East Aurora in one of my very first Where Bloggers Live posts. You can see it here.)
EA is LOADED with charm all year long, but for me, I love it best in Winter. Aaaaaand, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, this month’s Where Bloggers Live theme is “Winter’s Charm: My Five Favorite Things About Winter.”
We jumpstarted enjoying Winter’s Charm a day early this year, on December 20th. One of my favorite holiday traditions is our family visit to East Aurora’s Carolcade. For about an hour, thousands of people fill a stretch of Main Street and sing Christmas Carols; not just “Santa Christmas” but also “Jesus Christmas.” I have no beef with Santa Christmas, but it’s nice to offer a few songs, at least, to the guy for whom the holiday was actually named. Our kids know how much I love this day, so they’re pretty great about keeping their calendar open…and whether they know it or not, that’s probably the best gift they could give me.
After hitting boutiques, the famous Vidlers 5 and dime, then carolling a few tunes, we head to a favorite restaurant for a fun feast and usually laugh our frozen butts off. (I could stay at Carolcade for the full hour, but that’s pressing the kiddos’ indulgence “a little”. So we make haste to the pub where spirit turns to spirits.
A second favorite thing is Christmas Snow. You would think that, in Buffalo, we’d always have some, but alas, it is just as often NOT the case. There’s nothing worse that waking up on Christmas morning to a sunny day and green grass. But we all love a beautiful fluffy flake snow that sets the stage for a Christmas Card Christmas.
Christmas Snow is romantic and lovely… but I’ll even take the blizzardy kind, like the one we had two years ago that had us snowed in for several days.
Those famous Lake Effect Snows you’ve heard about are VERY particular as to where they land; our south towns being the usual spot. Lake Effect Snow often comes in narrow “bands” and you can miss it completely one day, but get socked the next.
If you know a big snow is coming, you can plan to hunker down and it can be a lot of fun.
Full disclosure: I FULLY understand that a blizzard or extremely heavy snowstorm can also be very dangerous and it isn’t remotely fun for people who lose power or have no access to resources, as often happens. Ever the planner, Mr has us always prepared with emergency supplies (including a back-up generator) at the ready.
Quite a few years ago, we were in “the southtowns” for our daughter’s chorale concert. When we arrived the weather was clear. When we left the snow was falling so heavily the windshield wipers could not keep pace with what was falling from the sky. It was a VERY treacherous ride because our visibilty was only a few feet in front of the car.
About half-way home, we passed an intersection that was like the official divider of the storm. Nothing on the one side of the road, a wall of white on the other. We came home to no snow, and less than 10 miles away (at the place where the concert was) they ended up with five feet of it.
The unpredictability of the weather, believe it or not, is another of winter’s charms…because it leads to one of the most hopeful word pairs in a Buffalo child’s lexicon:
Western New York children hear a storm is coming and they go to bed excited with the hope that the next day will bring that most cherished of surprises, a day off from school. There are even rituals, like sleeping with your pajamas inside out or putting a spoon under your pillow.
Before school districts had robocalls, we would wake up early and the house was filled with the sound of the local AM radio station’s “School Closing Report”. City and Southtown schools almost always dropped the announcement quickly. However, Northtown kids and parents would wait and hang onto the announcer’s voice as he cycled his way down the alphabetized list again and again. Although we live in the Clarence district, our crew went to Catholic schools in other towns …so it was a loooooong wait until they got to schools that began with the word, “Saint.” Usually the announcement would come after everyone was out of bed and dressed for school. But it was never NOT welcome to hear.
Shovelling snow is not generally charming, but winter fun? Top 5, for sure! Building forts, making snowballs, sledding and ice skating:
Of course, winter here isn’t all fluffy flakes and fireplaces. The charm of a blustery, icy, snowy, arctic-chill, polar-vortex winter day is best appreciated INDOORS, but we still often have to venture out and experience it. And while I would not elect to live anywhere else, I am often caught scraping the car windows while muttering, “I hate the cold, I hate the cold, I hate the cold, I hate the cold”.
Passing time from February through March feels loooonnnng, and I appreciate staying indoors and working on projects during those months. I have quite a few lined up for this year…and THEN, I will count the days until my beloved Summer returns.
Although…some of the BEST snows happen in April, because the heavy wet snow sticks to the trees and makes for a such beautiful sight!
Who would think we can experience this kind of weather AND open the pool in the same month?!!!
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Today is a great day to explore more of Winter’s charms! Please check out the seasonal experiences of
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Jodie at Jodieâs Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own
AND
Leslie is joining us again this month (YAY) at OnceUponaTimeandHappilyEverAfterAgain!
Who doesnât like to peek behind the scenes and see inside peopleâs homes?
The second Friday of each month is when this group of bloggers link up to share their workspaces,
homes, towns⊠or whatever our fearless leader, the fabulous Bettye, proposes.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
The caroling sounds like so much fun. And, honestly. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed snow days with the kids. We’d drink hot chocolate and Watch silly shows on TV. Thank you for that reminder.
I was looking forward to hearing what the charms of a Buffalo winter were–or if there were any given the extremity of winter there.
I am always impressed how the actors in those Hallmark Christmas movies set in upstate NY never seem to have red, frozen, or drippy noses! I thought maybe they were filmed elsewhere but huh, I guess they select people who can hold the line at “rosy and perky” and not “bright red and drippy.”
SNOW DAY. Oh yes. Growing up in Oklahoma, we wouldn’t have snow often so the bar for snow day was pretty low. With remote learning infrastructure in place due to Covid, snow days are sometimes replaced by e-learning days. In our local district, the first two days of inclement weather are traditional snow days, but after that, it could be an e-learning day instead. I would say we have as many days school is canceled for cold (wind chill forecast to be -35 F or colder at 6 a.m.) as for snow (because of course it takes a lot of snow falling quickly to swamp the city’s ability to clear it).
I might have to disagree with the statement that it’s disappointing to wake up on christmas and have it be sunny. LOL
And we need people like you who love the snow and cold.Because otherwise you’d all be moving here to arizona and making it even more overcrowded.
And to your point, hallmark does know a thing or two about charming.
Xoxo
Jodie