Snow

Water has no right to take this form, and if it does, you need to get away from it if you can.

Snow is solidified water vapor that is nothing but a pain in the butt. If you have to live in it, it makes life much more difficult. It may not be in your power to escape from it, but don't be deluded into thinking it's pleasant or good for you. There's nothing romantic about snow, although people who are trapped in it insist there is. It's just a hindrance.

Snow wouldn't be so bad if it chose to stay in solid form, but in most places it doesn't. It melts, then freezes, then turns to slush. If it gets in your shoes or clothes, it turns to water again and gets in the way of most outdoor activities. (The ideal fluffy snow of the ski slope is rarely encountered in the city.)

Where there is snow—that is, where the temperature stays well below freezing in the winter—life becomes much more complicated. Construction becomes more expensive; heating costs become higher, and homes have to be heated continuously to prevent pipes from freezing. Snow removal can become a significant burden for both municipalities and homeowners. Then there is the problem of transportation in the snow: It's dangerous and difficult. Apart from shoveling snow and expensive ski trips (a vain and useless entertainment), exercising outdoors is difficult, so snow is ultimately bad for your health.

In the snow, you can't live close to the environment. Instead, you have to be bundled up in many layers against it. People who claim to enjoy snow aren't really experiencing it. They're just looking at it through their picture windows and taking occasional forays into it with high-tech equipment. Snow is for the wealthy and well-heated. A few hours trapped in it without shelter would cure them. In its raw form, snow is a killer and has no practical benefit in its favor.

You could say that snow encourages intellectual activities by forcing people indoors, but any form of prison can do this. That doesn't mean that you should choose prison if you have the option to go elsewhere. If you live without the burden of snow, you just have to use your freedom wisely.

You would think that life in warmer places would be more expensive, since there ought to be a premium for comfort, but that's not necessarily true. Life in warm places is usually cheaper! Not only is living in snow uncomfortable, but people have to pay extra for the privilege!

There may be reasons to live north of the snow line, but they have to be good ones—like making a LOT more money. What really counts, however, is ones quality of life, and in the snow, it sucks, regardless of how much money you have.

Don't let water do this to you! If the opportunity arises to escape, do it!


Also see: The Scourge of Humidity (Homeless by Choice, July 2009).