It’s been awhile since Chicago has had proper snow. All we’ve gotten this week so far is damp icy slush. I have happy and vivid memories around February 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, tromping through over a foot of snow with my kids through the forest preserves. One of the ponds had frozen over so thoroughly that people had cleared off the snow and created a makeshift ice rink for skating and hockey. The freeze had been so sudden that you could look down through the ice and see frozen green plant life in the shallow sections. The snow was white, fluffy, and everywhere.
Right now we’re just stuck with this thin layer of icy slush that melts and turns everything into a muddy mess. You can’t even take a mountain bike out on the trails because there hasn’t been a proper freeze yet to protect the trail conditions.
So this Friday, while I realize it is going to be an inconvenience to everybody that actually has to get places, I’m hoping for snow.