My normal 20-30 minute commute home took nearly 90 minutes Friday, January 12! Including the 10 minutes or so that it took to brush heavy wet snow off my car. Now, I’m charging up my phone and portable charger in case power zaps out. Maybe I should find our sleeping bags?

I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life, so if it seems like I’m complaining – rest assured, I am not! That would be like someone living in Florida and complaining about (choose one or more) heat, humidity, bugs or tourists! Dealing with snow and cold in Michigan is simply a way of life. It is what it is. You just deal – and pretend that it somehow makes you more bad-ass than someone living in Florida!

In the summer months I do tend to bitch about heat, humidity, bugs and tourists, but that’s another blog topic altogether! I am Thermacell disciple now (they work). But let’s move on, shall we?

I was grateful to have four key things in my car when I was getting ready to drive home in Thor’s fury – snow scraper/brush (duh), my winter boots (green waterproof Columbia brand), my heavy snowmobile gloves and most importantly – my ugly wool earflap hat! Behold in the photo below…that thing is 30 years old now! My friend Michelle bought it for me when I was in college as a joke, I’ll bet she didn’t expect me to actually wear it!

Not only do I still wear it, but it’s become one of my most prized possessions. It handles Winter’s wrath like no other hat, it’s snow repellent, the visor keeps sun out of my eyes – and snow away from my face – and the earflaps and ties keep the hat snug to my head even in high winds. 

When I was warming up my car after work and getting ready to go out into the storm to brush off my car and drive home, I used my snow brush to reach into my back window to push the hat my way. Sure, you could say that I was too lazy to get out of the car to get it, but why would I want to let a bunch of snow into my car?

Its label even states that it was made in the USA!

Here are some other stormy pics: