Another weekend, another wave of bad weather. There is something about weekends that make it snow or sleet or freeze here lately.

In fact, as best I can recall, it has snowed or sleeted every Thursday or Friday for about as long as winter has really been around this year. It is a good thing that I am one of those annoying people who actually enjoys winter weather. I say annoying because it would seem that I am in the minority. In fact, so many people hate the snow and ice that it is popularly known as ‘bad' weather. How can weather be bad? I say we're the problem, not the weather.

Everywhere I go I hear folks whine and roll their eyes concerning our recent inclement weather, including going as far as to complain vociferously about the next pending inclement weather event. We have been in a pretty serious drought for quite a while, so I am always glad to see some of the wet stuff, no matter what form it falls in.

The spring on my land has gotten so small that I can hardly see it and the local trout streams seem to get smaller every year. Some people who have been fishing for years tell me that things used to be much different than they are now. Nothing replenishes the earth with water as well as a slow-melting snow. It gives the earth a chance to wick up more moisture.

I read somewhere that wet ground can soak up more moisture than dry ground. While that doesn't make much sense on the outset, I guess it is like a sponge. It won't soak up anything until it gets damp. Our amount of precipitation, even counting all the snow and stuff we had last month, is still below normal.

I don't know how the weather folks come up with these ‘normal' numbers, but I just have to figure they know what they're talking about. I think I remember hearing somewhere that the records only go back for a hundred years or so.

I'd figure the thermometer has been around longer than that, but I'm not sure. I do know that measuring devices go all the way back to the pyramids, so surely somebody somewhere could have measured the annual rainfall before 100 years ago. I suppose folks in those days were too busy killing Indians and wolves and going to the outdoor privy to worry about measuring rain drops.

As for the recent weather, I can say that I genuinely enjoy going out in the snow and ice and feeling the clean air and brisk feel of the world. I think I have mentioned before how I love the feel of a winter day; nothing else makes one feel quite so alive.

As an added attraction, the ice sculptures on the branches earlier this week make the world look like a work of art. I likened them to ice sculptures, but as they started melting, there was a certain magical time when the trees shimmered like diamonds. I am sure some folks have a hard time appreciating a work of art when they have trouble getting to the doctor's office or the grocery store, but I can't complain on that front either. I have a four-wheel-drive in good working condition and enough experience to drive it with caution and usually get where I am going. I say usually because of my history — there have been a few times when I didn't do so well in the wintertime. There was an ice storm in the mid 1990s that stranded me for a day or two. That was the time I tried to drive through the side of the barn. I learned a valuable lesson that day. If the ice is clear and thick on a hill, stay put.

I went out and cleaned off the truck that morning and was heading out of the driveway at my parents' house, where I had stayed the night before for one reason or the other.

I rolled about four feet and slid about 20 more, right into the barn. In the process, I dented the truck and left the barn with a small scar on the corner and my father with a hand over his eyes. He told me it was too slick to go that morning, but I wouldn't listen. Luckily, I didn't do any real structural damage to the barn or the truck.

After that, I spread some ice melting stuff and went back into the house. My parents' driveway goes down a pretty steep hill, winding around a bank down the the highway. Sometimes I was smart when I stayed there and parked at the bottom of the hill. Usually, I was not.

It's not like that's the only time in my life I had a wreck on slick roads, either. I once had a Jeep CJ-5 that would spin around at the drop of a hat. It would go like a goat, but if it ever got to spinning, it was all over with. I drove it through a fence one time and went up to tell the man that owned it. He came out and told me not to worry about it, he was going to take it out the next week anyhow. He even came down with his tractor and helped pull me out. I think I wrecked that Jeep at least 10 times. I was young then and didn't have concerns like paying for insurance and breaking my neck. I was unaware of the lack of youthful invincibility until sometime later. I had to find out the hard way.

Even as recently as three years ago I had a time when I slid off the side of the road and had to be tugged out by a fellow four-wheel-driver. It was near white-out conditions and I came around a curve to find a Pontiac Grand Am blocking both lanes of the road. I had to drive into the ditch to keep from hitting it right in the side. I can't say I haven't had problems due to snow and ice, but I like it nonetheless. After all, someone smarter than me controls the weather. Wouldn't the world be in a funny shape if one of us had control of the weather? As for me, I'll just take whatever comes and try to like it.

Get more tongue in cheek commentary this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

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