I was born in Iowa, and I’ve lived here all my life.

I don’t know if it’s just in my blood or if it’s in the water or what, but I love it here. To me, it seems like Iowa is the best of both worlds.

It has small towns where people you don’t even know will greet you as you pass them on the sidewalk; towns where little league baseball and county fairs are the highlight of the summer. It has large cities where you can go club hopping or listen to the symphony.

Even most of these cities have that hometown appeal. For sports fans it has a the Iowa Cubs, a minor-league baseball team, as well as its own arena football team, the Barnstormers.

It has one of the best public education systems in the nation and numerous colleges and universities. It also has more Hy-Vees than any other state (this might just be a personal highlight).

But it is the people who make this state such a great place to live.

They just seem to be nicer and more willing to take the time to help other people than your average stranger on the street.

I could go on and on about why I love this state, but there is just one thing that I don’t like. Winter.

Even after spending every winter of my young adult life here, I am just not ready to battle another one yet. The cold temperatures and snow flurries that we saw last weekend were only the beginning.

Mother Nature only provided us with a little preview of what is to come.

With the temperature rising a little this week, it looks like we are going to get a little break before the snow shoveling, windshield scraping and parka wearing of a true Iowa winter begins.

Do you remember bundling up as a child before you were allowed to head outside to play with the other neighborhood children or go out to recess?

Putting on the extra layers of clothes, the bulky parka, snow pants, mittens, scarf, hat and boots took a long time, but it was always worthwhile when you won a snowball fight or had the best looking snowman on the block.

You never noticed the cold then; winter was a time of awe and wonder. It meant that Santa would soon be coming and that if you were lucky, you would get a couple days off from school.

Do you remember your middle school and high school years when you were way too cool to be seen wearing boots or a hat?

I don’t know how I escaped frostbite on some of my morning walks to school, but at least I wasn’t seen all bundled up!

These were also the years when you quit doing homework every time the weatherman predicted a blizzard and you got your first experiences (both good and bad) navigating the icy roads.

Now, as a college student, it is time to face Old Man Winter once again — as if it wasn’t already hard enough to drag yourself out of bed for your 8 a.m. class.

Your willpower will get even weaker the second we are hit with a true Iowa snowstorm.

It is almost time to break out your down-filled parka, wool mittens, hat, flannel shirts and the long underwear.

I will be the first one to admit that I have just gone back to the elementary school bundling-up phase. Even the short walk from Curtiss Hall to Beardshear to pay that overdue U-Bill can be killer when the weather is nasty.

And there is always the fun of dealing with the roads the first time they are coated with ice. I am not the greatest snow and ice driver, but I am sure I won’t be the only one who is sliding around, looking as if I have never seen ice before.

Even when the roads aren’t bad, you still have the joy of scraping the frost off your windshield. These are the times that I just don’t understand how people live without rear defrost.

It is always smart to keep an eye on the road conditions and dress for the weather, but even winter in Iowa is a whole lot more fun if you take the time to think about the good things that come along with the start of parka season.

It means that only a few weeks are left of first semester and that it will soon be time for winter break. It means that it will soon be time to go sledding and play in the snow.

Now, if I could just find someone to make hot chocolate for me when I come inside …

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Laura Luiken is a sophomore in English from Webster City.