What A Winter!

The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.

Over the years I've spent a ridiculous amount of money buying cold weather clothes and I always enjoy putting them on and going out to see if they keep me warm and dry. Life is a series of contests and fighting the weather is one of them. It's fun to foil weather that's trying to get at you. That's why an umbrella or a raincoat are so satisfying. I even love my car with the windshield wipers going in a heavy rain.

What we've had in New York this winter - if you can call it winter - is the worst weather you can get. It snowed a little several times but never enough for kids to really play in. In cold weather, snow is dry but it wasn't cold so the snow was wet. Ten inches of snow is equal to about an inch of water.

When the weathermen predict a foot of snow we get half an inch. If they call for four inches, we get a dusting that isn't even enough to shovel. You sweep it. I think meteorologists get bored with good weather that's why they do that. I never remember any weather prediction that called for less snow than we ended up getting.

In New York, the sanitation department attaches plows to its garbage trucks and pushes the snow around with them. They block off driveways and street corner crossings with piles of snow they should have left where it fell. And of course, they don't pick up the garbage that day, either.

There's nothing prettier in all of nature than a fresh snowfall and there's nothing more fun for kids to play in.

There are so many good things about snow it's too bad we don't get more of it.

Shoveling four or five inches of snow off your sidewalk is one of the most rewarding experiences there is. I bought an attachment for my power mower a couple of years ago. It throws a shower of snow about fifteen feet. I paid $750 for it and I've used it twice. If I'd waited one more day both times the snow would have melted.

Does anyone want to buy a used snow thrower?
Written By Andy Rooney