The first snow of winter is like an ex girlfriend you haven’t seen in a while. It’s beautiful, glistening and carries with it bygone memories of happiness, love and joy. Then you see her a second time and you remember why the two of you split; she’s cold.

Winter can be fun, but let’s get real; most of the time it isn’t. You have to learn to drive all over again, you get sick and snow in a gym shoe is no joke. However, there are certain things about winter which you may take for granted. I, for one, believe you secretly love winter. Here’s why:

 1) According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, there were 25,026 car accidents in Illinois resulting from icy or snowy conditions during 2010. That’s just under 9 percent of all car accidents in Illinois for the year. Driving through a “wintery mix” is dangerous for you and your car, but mostly your car.

-Upside: You wanted a new car anyway; the insurance settlement should help you substantially. Also, have you seen the “Fast and Furious” movies? Snow + emergency brake + hard right turn = Vin Diesel. You’re welcome.

 

2) Wind-chill is a killer. The cold is bad enough, but freezing conditions coupled with gale-force winds on a morning walk to class can feel like flying razor blades. According to WGN Chicago, the lowest wind chill ever recorded was on Christmas Eve 1983, a temperature of 23 below zero Fahrenheit coupled with nearly 30 mph winds produced a wind chill of 82 degrees below zero. Presumably, this caused a city wide shortage of lip balm and hot cocoa.

Upside: Chapped lips create the unique opportunity to try out new and exciting Chapstick flavors. My favorite so far is peach mango with a dash of glitter. It brings out my eyes; don’t hate.

3) Snow makes everything besides the winter x-games harder to do. Many of us remember the “Sno-Pocolypse” of Feb. 2, 2011. The storm caused more than 13,000 flight cancellations, dropped over 22 inches of snow on Chicago in a 12-hour period and forced Chicago’s public schools to close for the first time in 12 years. Nine hundred cars were stuck on Lake Shore Drive for more than 10 hours. Eventually, 700 National Guard members were called in to help dig out the stranded motorists.

 

Upside: Everyone in the Midwest got a couple of snow days, including NIU. Side note: It also got me out of a test.

Convinced you love winter yet? No? Well I’d love to continue going into great detail about why you secretly love winter, but my editor is a real stickler about the amount of space I use. Without further ado, the rest of my reasons why winter is awesome.

The Bad: Sickness

The Good: You didn’t want to go to work anyway.

The Bad: Power outage

The Good: Candles can make for a romantic evening.

The Bad: No longer able to drink lemonade or eat ice-cream.

The Good: Hot chocolate with a dash of peppermint liquor makes for an entertaining 8 a.m. class.

The Bad: Wet clothing

The Good: You’ve been putting off laundry for weeks, and there’s only so many times you can turn one pair of boxers inside out. My record is 8.

The Bad: Can’t go for runs outside

The Good: A chance to use your old “Tae Bo” VHS tapes. Now, does anybody have a VHS player?

The Bad: Falling on ice

The Good: Watching someone else take a digger, and then jump up pretending nothing happened.

We all saw it. And thanks to YouTube, many more will see it.

The Bad: Not seeing the sun for several months

The Good: Great excuse to go somewhere sunny over spring break.