English winter
Many years ago, riding the bus on a miserable rainy winter day, I overheard someone say, "well, at least it isn't the stuff you have to shovel." What?!
I really can't understand why anyone would think something like that, and I also can't understand why anyone would want to live in England. This is because fiction and movies have taught me that the English winter is gray (or "grey") and rainy and cold and dampónot cold like we're supposed to have here in America, with everything freezing up solid, but a miserable wet cold that goes right into your bones. I felt kind of silly going out to walk the dogs today in all my winter gear, considering the temperature is technically above freezing, but I really needed those fleece-lined pants! It takes the rain longer to soak through them, for one thing. Happily, they tell us it will soon get properly cold and I'll be able to enjoy going outside again.