Southerners Surviving Another Winter

I must report that despite that it's just '-7 degrees on my way to work; it's 'not too bad.' Ok, so we had to shovel ourselves out of our house this morning; scrape the car windows (a morning ritual for 5 months), and dress beyond all recognition... it really isn't so bad.
The wind could have been stronger, the snow could have still been falling; and the car could have opted to not start. All of which are possible variables in a Midwest winter.
The first snowfall of the year was around Thanksgiving, I'm pretty sure we still have some of it on our ground... the rest have just stacked on top... melted a few days here and there; but prevailed.
Maybe it's a contest between snowflakes... who can stick around the longest? It's no secret that with Easter coming at just about the earliest possible date (March 23), we've already resigned ourselves to the fact that there will be snow on the ground while we don our springtime attire, in hopes that the more flowers you wear, the brighter the colors, the less obvious the cold winter blanket will feel... right? Or maybe we should just hold off on the Easter dress this year, and wear our Christmas attire, once more... get more wear and tear for the almighty (but shrinking) US dollar.
So... I'm happy to say. we're alive. We're managing our weather conditions just fine. We've adapted and continue to adapt to the early days, the long nights and the blanket of fresh snow that greets us, almost weekly. We know it only lasts 6 months; and then we're greeted with growth, renewal and green. We can wait patiently... or at least, we can wait!