I live in Ukrainian Village, but I trek up to the Northwest burbs to sled. There is one off Mannheim in Des Plaines and another called Centennial Hill in Park Ridge off Touhy Ave. Definitely worth the trip after a couple of good snows.

There’s always that bump by the soccer fields at Montrose Harbor…heheh…

If not for winter, besides having a larger population, we’d also have much more expensive housing costs.

I wonder, where do you sled at 2:00 a.m.? Or at all really? Are you in the northwestern burbs where I’ve heard rumors our beloved region actually has topography?

So true. I’ve heard a claim that Chicago’s population would be double or triple were it not for Chicago Winters. Personally, I enjoy the winter (I was born here), or more specifically, I enjoy having seasons. I’m still like a little kid when the first snow comes and I pull out my boots and go sledding at 2am after the children have left.

And if you can put up with the cold, visiting the Lakefront during winter is a quiet and isolating experience. North Avenue beach can be absolutely deserted.

My first winter here was almost my last. I found it unbearably cold; if the temperature dropped below 40, I didn’t leave my apartment without a damn good reason. It’s currently in the 70s back home, and that’s the way my Southern blood likes it year-round.

Over the succeeding winters, though, I seem to have adapted. I have an entire closet devoted just to jackets and coats – there’s something for every weather. And I continue to be amused when I walk outside in 32-degree temps and think it’s warm.

I still complain about how cold winters are here, and how long they last. I still threaten to move every winter. But I’m still here, in my seventh winter. Perhaps I should just resign myself to calling Chicago home; I’ve resisted that for six and a half years now.

There’s just something about this place…