You may hate the biting wind of Downtown Pittsburgh and whining storms of the suburbs, but there are times, when sitting in a heated place, sipping a warm beverage and looking outside at the land mantled with snow, are the best of times.
As one smart person said, “Snow provokes responses that reach back to childhood” — building snowmen, making evanescent snow angels, walking on yet-untouched and glittering surface of whiteness. Scrunch. Scrunch. Scrunch.
As adults, we sure like to complain about the weather, about the never-ending winters, hottest-since-I-remember summers, breaking-the-back need to shovel, to mow the lawn, the inconvenience of snarling traffic caused by snow, but, admit it, change of seasons in Pittsburgh is an underappreciated luxury that we do not have to visit, it just comes to us.
Snow, especially during the holiday season, brings contrast to the colorful lights and decorations, perfectly underlining dreamy days of magic captured on a Christmas card.
Photographs we found in the Post-Gazette archives depict different stages of snow, ones with snow sticking to the beautiful imperfections of Pittsburgh architecture making them pristine, others of snow turning to snow banks, to ice, to slush and ice again. Marvel at the serene photograph by Al Hermann, Jr., after the winter storm — of a pedestrian and a motorist in the 100 block of First Avenue taken on Jan. 20, 1978.
“Think about sleigh bells and sled rides, skiing on fresh powder, roasted chestnuts and pulling the warm covers around you before going back to sleep on Saturday morning,” as one Post-Gazette writer advised in 1978, “That’s the way to contemplate winter: rosy cheeks, snowy lanes, cheery fireplaces. Don’t think about snow tires, heating bills and slush. Refuse to harbor thoughts of traffic jams, wet wool and the wind chill factor.”
Celebrate Christmas, welcome the New Year and wait for snow…
So, when is it spring again?
