I'm looking out my window and what do I see?

Ice, snow and a misty fog hanging close to the ground.

I close my eyes and I can only dream about the wonderful, vibrant colors of fresh sprouted flowers and green leaves on trees.

I can hardly remember how great freshly-mowed grass smells -- even if I hate to mow it myself.

Please give me a single day of stinking, sweltering, hot southern Indiana humidity that makes the sweat run down my back.

Am I the only one who is sick and tired of this wintry weather that we've been hit with this year?

It seems like every week we are being hit by some sort of a winter weather warning -- freezing rain, ice and snow.

Our schools are closed and our lives in general are being disrupted in some fashion by Mother Nature.

I'm still more than amazed at the number of "snow days" that students, teachers and staff get these days.

I don't want to wade back into the past, but when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, snow days were a real luxury that didn't happen very often.

I lived in town and remember walking -- not barefoot -- to school several days when there was six inches or more of snow on the ground.

In those days, classes weren't canceled much and we were expected to get to school the best way we could. Some days the buses didn't run, but anyone who could get to school was expected to be there because the teachers were going to be there and classes were going to be held unless we were buried in a huge snowfall or had a bad ice storm.

What would happen today if the area is pelted with a six-inch snowfall?

You know and I know that all classes would be canceled -- probably for a couple of days.

I guess I forget, this is Indiana where we do have fast-changing weather systems moving through our area that don't always follow the paths that the computers generate.

It's got to be a real downer being a weather forecaster in this area of the country with all the uncertainty that's involved.

How many of us are quick to jump on the weather guys when they miss the forecast? I bet far fewer comment when the weather prognosticators actually get it right.

I guess that's human nature.

In our business, we rarely get accolades when we get something right in the newspaper. We rarely get letters or comments saying, "Hey you did a good job on that story today."

But just let us spell something wrong, have a comma in the wrong spot or heaven forbid make a factual mistake, we are torpedoed with negative comments.

Admittedly, in the big picture of things this winter really hasn't been that bad when compared with other years in recent memory.

We haven't had that big snow yet, just a series of smaller, pesky icy storms that have played havoc with our roadways -- making them very dangerous for travel.

Spring is just around the corner in less than a month on March 20 this year.

For me, it can't get here fast enough.

Nick is the assistant editor for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487 or by e-mail at nschneider@gcdailyworld.com