Snow Storms and Sunshine: It’s All Relative

The early snow in Happy Valley and the cold streak here in the South seem to have caught everyone a little off guard. It’s all relative folks. You could live in Buffalo. Take it from me, I did.

It was November of 2014, and I was working for the Buffalo Sabres. I had just moved from the marina area near downtown only 1 mile from the Sabres arena to the cozy village of Hamburg in the Southtowns. I even played a round of golf on an unseasonably warm day that first week of November as I lived on a golf course with a beautiful view of Lake Erie. Life was good and I thought I had made a great choice moving there. Not so fast. Just a week later the mother of all storms literally stalled right over my cozy new condo.

What became known as the Snowmageddon storm of 2014 delivered 7 to 8 feet of lake-effect snow over three days to the areas south and east of Buffalo. I was stuck in my condo for two days and my neighbor actually had to cross country ski to his unit after finally making it back to Hamburg. The snow emergency forced us to move the Bills game vs. the New York Jets to Detroit and we canceled two Sabres home games. Meanwhile, my old apartment closer to downtown got a mere dusting of less than a foot. It’s all relative folks!

Fast forward to this past weekend when Buffalo was hit by 6 feet in one day, and this time the downtown area wasn’t spared. Once again, the NFL was forced to move a Bills home game (vs the Cleveland Browns) from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park to Detroit’s indoor stadium at Ford Field. The good news for the Bills is they are now 2-0 as the “home” team at Ford Field, so maybe they are on to something there!

While we haven’t had many Snowmageddon level storms in Happy Valley over the years, we did have our share of blizzards. I vividly remember a big storm in 1979 as a freshman as I tried to cross the infamous Lot 80 where the East Deck, Food Science, Forestry and Smeal Buildings now stand. There were major blizzards in ’93, ’96, 2010, 2017 and as recently as 2020. We receive enough snow and ice in Happy Valley that it did play a part in our decision to relocate south.

Last Wednesday, I received a text from my son Ryan, who will be graduating from Penn State in less than a month, that said, “It’s 29 and snowing here.” I couldn’t resist and immediately responded,  “It’s 78 and golfing here!” Sometimes I just crack myself up. 

I must admit, I miss the beauty of a snowfall and seeing the kids’ making snowmen, sled riding, throwing snowballs and our dog Barkley prancing in our yard in the fresh snow. I miss it right up until the point when I remember how much my back hurt from shoveling my driveway. Selling my Snow Joe electric snow shovel was almost as satisfying as selling my lawnmower. Moving south into an active adult community means no more shoveling snow or cutting grass for this guy. You know what else it means? I’ve gotten older. You take the good with the bad. It’s all relative, folks.

When I was in State College for the Minnesota and Ohio State football games, an old friend asked me about how I could leave Happy Valley and why I would move south. It’s a legitimate question that I get asked often and it’s quite literally painful to answer.

I hurt. I hurt all over. My neck, my right shoulder, my right hip, my lower back, my left knee, my wrists, my hands, my fingers, pretty much every muscle and joint in my body. They especially hurt when it’s cold and wet. It’s the result of a lifetime of “play” and because I only knew one way to play: hard.

Didn’t matter if it was the annual Turkey Bowl two-hand touch football game, the pond hockey pick-up game, the Saturday morning NHL (Nittany Hockey League) adult hockey game, the Church League softball game or, more recently, a doubles pickleball match. Full speed, baby, diving to snag a ground ball, hustling to catch a pass or laying out to block a shot on the ice. If you are going to play, you play hard!

My father preached that hustle made up for a lack of talent. Since I suffered greatly from LOFT (Lack OF Talent) I had to outwork and outwit my opponent.  That competitive gene was strong in my family, and I never learned to shut it off. 

It was also a lack of proper preparation on my part — showing up to play golf, pickleball, tennis and hockey and never allowing enough time to properly stretch ahead of time or to cool down afterwards. It was 30-plus years of coaching and instructing hockey camps and clinics and demonstrating skating skills and drills I should have delegated to some younger assistants. Those “Russian Kicks“ and “Shoot the Duck” drills were awful on my knees, hips and back. 

Well, I’m paying for it now. I don’t know for sure if the sun and the warmth really makes a difference scientifically. I believe it does. I do know it does psychologically. I am no longer the athlete or the athletic instructor or coach I used to be. I am simply an athletic supporter these days. (Pun intended.)

Even though we have moved from Happy Valley, we got to cheer on our men’s basketball team at the Charleston Classic in a victory over Furman and a heartbreaking 61-59 loss to Virginia Tech (we was robbed!). I saw Penn State friends young and old including Dave and Lori Uhazie, Colonel Bloom, Katie and Bob Jones and members of the Charleston and Myrtle Beach Penn State Alumni Chapters at a post-game reception. I also enjoyed a relaxing round of golf on Sunday with my former Penn State Icer teammate John Davis who flew into Hilton Head to spend Thanksgiving week with his parents, Rich and Marty, and we enjoyed a nice dinner reminiscing about Dear Old State. 

I loved skiing, sled riding, snowmobile riding, building snow forts and getting into snowball fights. Great memories. I will still ski and play pond hockey occasionally, but my days of regularly running around in the snow just don’t fit my current physical and mental makeup. 

In my book The Power of Pragmatic Passion (this is my annual shameless plug that it makes a great holiday gift!), I talk about the fact that our goals and personal visions change depending on our stage of life. Well, we are definitely at a different stage of life when sloshing around in wet snow isn’t as appealing as it once was. 

“But what about all the heat and humidity in the summer down south?” I do the same thing I would if it was cold and wet up north. I stay inside and read a book, play cards or watch a movie. It’s all relative folks.