Let It Snow: My Love-Hate Relationship with the Cold

I didn’t grow up with snow.

I grew up with palm trees, screen doors, and humidity so thick it could hug you. Winter in Florida meant maybe a hoodie in the morning and short sleeves by noon. We’d dream of white Christmases like they were scenes from a movie—because for us, that’s all they were. Imagined. Distant. Frosted fiction.

It wasn’t until well into adulthood that I felt real snow fall on my skin. I remember the moment clearly—watching those little flakes drift down, delicate as ash, wondering how something so light could shift an entire landscape. It was beautiful. Silent. Almost sacred. I was mesmerized.

And then—I got cold.

Here’s the thing about snow: it’s stunning from a distance. But once you’re in it? That chill doesn’t just hit your skin—it settles in your bones. My love for winter weather lives somewhere between admiration and discomfort. I can appreciate the poetry of it, but I’m not trying to suffer for the stanza.

Still, I’ve chased winter anyway. That’s the thing about curiosity—it doesn’t care about temperature. I’ve wandered through Iceland’s icy plains, stood beneath waterfalls that froze mid-fall, watched the northern lights dance like spirits across the sky. I’ve made my way to Alaska, with so many layers I could barely move, just to witness nature in one of its rawest forms. And even with chattering teeth, I’d do it again.

Because snow changes everything. It transforms familiar terrain into something otherworldly. It hushes the world. It makes you pay attention. And even though I’m a sun-child by birth, I can’t deny that winter has its own magic.

You feel it in your breath. You see it in the way people huddle closer, share warmth, seek shelter. There’s a kind of intimacy in cold weather that summer doesn’t ask for.

So yes, I have a love-hate relationship with the cold. I’ll gripe about frozen toes and layers on layers, but I’ll still book that trip to a place with glacial views and snow-covered paths—because the beauty always outweighs the inconvenience.

So like Boyz 2 Men said Let it Snow... just not for too long.

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