The pros & cons of Minnesota winter, part 2

+ I have an excuse to wear neon accessories, and as we all know, neon is totally in right now. (These are called yak traks. They keep you from slipping on the ice when your 65 pound dog decides you aren't walking fast enough.)

+ Related: fighting gravity is an amazing ab workout. When you forget the aforementioned yak traks and have to save yourself from slipping every 15 seconds while walking, you might as well have done 100 crunches. 

- I've learned the origin of the phrase "old man winter". It refers to my face, after the dry, cold air shrivels up my skin and makes me look like an old man. This one's a toss up -- a pro because I learned something new; a con because MY FACE LOOKS LIKE AN OLD MAN.

+ Everyone has feathers stuck to them (from their puffy jackets). This is a pro simply because it amuses me.

- That moment when you're driving 60 on the highway and the car in front of you throws a snowball at you. SERIOUSLY. Snow that's been sitting on the car is whipped off and flung at the car behind them at a rate of 60 mph and you're just minding your own business, singing along to Ke$ha when WHAM, a giant snowball hits your windshield and causes you to scream and swerve and Ke$ha just keeps on singing like nothing happened. That's a really neat trick, winter.

+ Also driving related, my winter accessories have made me a nicer driver -- it's kind of difficult to make rude hand gestures while wearing mittens.  This is crucial, because Minnesota drivers are ... special.

+ I haven't seen a bug in months. If this long winter business means I never have to see a cockroach again, I'm down. 

I think you'll see the pros clearly outweigh the cons.