It’s officially sludge season, one of the most beautiful times of the year. The roads are full of grey, horrible soup. The sidewalks are treacherous with ice. You’re thinking about attaching crampons to your work shoes so you don’t meet your maker on your way into the office. Snow is all well and good when it’s falling out of the sky. And if you’re in a rural area, it’s gorgeous. The white blankets the area with a soft, beautiful layer of fluff. 

But if you live anywhere near a city, as soon as that snow hits the road it turns into an unsightly and dangerous blight to the ground. You’re not truly a Midwesterner until you’ve fallen right on your rear end while walking down the sidewalk. The pang that it sends through your tailbone is one of the most distinctly painful things you can experience. Not to mention the humiliation.