So you call this winter?

This is the season my colleagues worried that I might not get through without snow tires on my Toyota Prius.

Good thing I didn’t waste $400 on ‘snow tires.’

I did buy new tires ... but maybe there was no need. Those worndown tread ‘oldies’ might have made it through this winter season.

I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in wondering where winter has gone. Most people I’ve talked to said it’s been a bust. Only time will tell for sure.

You know the weather in Michigan has been known to change from one day to the next.

But the calendar says spring is just around the corner, March 20. Some days lately, it even feels like spring already.

As of mid-week about 50 inches was the snowfall total recorded at the county Road Commission’s Suttons Bay garage this winter.

I wonder how they got that number. Do they collect it off the roads and pile it in the garage? It sure doesn’t seem like 50 inches. That’s more than an average winter from where I come from.

My sister-in-law from Traverse City blames me for this mild winter, being my first winter in northwestern Michigan. She figures I must have brought Bay City’s snowfall with me. It’s OK, call it El Michael, I’ve got big shoulders.

The lack of snow and the mild winter is starting to worry some folks in Leelanau ... vintners and farmers and the other businesses that rely on the winter sports.

While I’ve been too busy moving into my new home since the first of the year, I really have missed the snow. Maybe next year!

Santa got me my first pair of snowshoes. They’re still in cellophane. Maybe next year!

I was actually hoping to have a rebirth in cross country skiing and was kind of excited about Sugar Loaf re-opening some trails for cross country. It wasn’t just the lack of snow that put a damper on that recreational opportunity. Organizers of the non- profit Sugar Loaf Mountain Club haven’t been able to get a lease agreement that would allow them to move forward with their plans to bring the ski area back to life after being closed for nearly 12 years. Maybe next year!

Last month, I got one of those unexpected hit- you- in- the- face winter moments. A brief, but heavy snowfall did get the best of me. I had plans to go back home to wish my daughter and mother a Happy Birthday.

It was a balmy 40-something on Friday, Jan. 27. But by Saturday morning, I had five inches in my Bingham Township driveway.

I tried heading south, only to reach Traverse City at a snail’s pace in the whiteout conditions.

I thought I’d wait out the storm by grabbing some breakfast at the Green House Cafe. But after a warm meal, the weather seemed to worsen.

I put off the trip going home. Sorry mom.

It was also at that moment that I realized it was time to break down and get that snowblower folks said I’d need up here.

I had seen a Toro dealer on M-72 west near Cedar so I trekked that way. The roads were miserable. What was worse is that when I finally slid my way into the dealership, they didn’t sell snowblowers.

I was given good advice, however, on where to get a Toro. So back I went to Traverse City, slipping and sliding to Ferguson’s.

It was two hours later when I got home with my blower and was able to clear the driveway. When I was finished, the County Road Commission came back to refill the end of the drive.

Anyways now that I’ve got a nice blower, I’m waiting for a Leelanau winter.