Ice on the road

To get out of my little neighbourhood, there's just one road I can take, but I can go in either direction on it. This isn't a very major road--no bus route or anything--so the city doesn't clear the snow. Last week, I noticed something odd about it: at both ends, one driving lane is basically clear, and the other is covered in bumpy ice. (And of course, the parking lanes are snowy and icy.) In both cases, the lane for cars entering the neighbourhood is clear, and the lane for people leaving is icy. (After driving a short distance into the neighbourhood, you'll find that all of the lanes are covered in ice, but now I'm getting off topic.)

I can only think of one explanation: people drive on the entering lane with warmer tires. Would that make this much difference? Does anyone have a different explanation?

Snowing

I woke up this morning and saw snow on the ground, and I couldn't help but smile. This seems to happen every year when the first snowfall happens. (Technically, we have had some snow earlier this fall, but those light dustings barely count. This one might not last either, but it's more significant than the others we've had.)

But why do I smile when this means there are months of cold weather coming up? Maybe I like cold weather with snow more than somewhat cold weather without snow (which is how it's been for most of the last month or two). Maybe I'm looking forward to skiing. Maybe it's because a snowy landscape is more beautiful than the brown landscape I've been looking at lately. Maybe it's just a different kind of beauty, one I haven't seen in several months (except that one day in Banff at the end of August). Maybe it's because anticipating bad times is sometimes worse than experiencing bad times. (The cold weather made me anticipate winter. Now the snow makes me feel like winter is here.)

Unfortunately, I'm sure my happiness about this weather won't last. Hopefully I'll enjoy it today anyway.