By BRIAN BARTH
It was about this time a year ago when my family and I were deciding on movers, packing our cars and preparing our hearts for a cross-country move to old Cape Cod. 
It was a decision that my wife and I debated for many months, ultimately deciding that the Cape would be a great place to raise our son. I had an idea as to what the Cape would have in store for us. I visited several times, but never spent more than 10 days at a time and mostly during the summer.
Make no mistake about it, I’m a 30-year-old Cape Cod washashore.
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. I spent the first 23 years of my life there before ultimately meeting my now wife and moving to other areas of the country. My wife, on the other hand, was born and raised on the Cape and raved about her childhood experiences here.
Regardless, it was a scary move for me.
Winter on the Cape, in particular, was frightening to me. Will we lose power? How cold will it be and how much snow will we get? Beyond the weather, will I be trapped inside all winter? Where can I take my son to do something fun?
Thinking optimistically, I thought to myself, if I can handle the frigid temperatures of Chicago, I can handle the northeastern snow totals.
In the back of my mind though, something kept popping up in my head. It was my memory of watching the New England Patriots play the Oakland Raiders in playoffs over a decade ago. Remember that game? The infamous tuck rule game? I remember watching that game on television in Chicago thinking how bad the conditions must be in that area.
Living in the city of Chicago and the suburbs, my overall concern was more for the cold temperatures than the snow accumulations or losing power. I never can remember having a snow storm that caused major issues that caused schools to be closed down for a week.
As a child, all I can remember is winters being absolutely frigid. I’m talking about temperatures with wind chills reaching 20 to 40 below. Even now I check the temperature of my hometown and frequently see something that causes me to shiver. As I write this, the morning temperature in my hometown shows below 0 temperatures. They don’t call it the Windy City for nothing.
Winter Storm Juno here on the Cape did remind me of one rough storm in Chicago. There was a storm in 2010 in Chicago that halted everyone for a couple of days. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago was brought to a standstill by a couple of feet of snow. That snow paralyzed the most iconic road in the city for a couple of days. I was reminded of that storm when I saw the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore coverage this winter on the Cape. He raved about thunder-snow in Chicago back in 2010, and he ended up doing the same here. Listen to the clips below:
Beyond the amount of snow and temperatures, the other major difference is how fast the snow was cleaned up and removed in Chicago versus the Cape. I do think the DPWs did as much as they could and kept everyone safe here, but it seemed like it was nearly a week before things were back to normal. After that 2010 storm in Chicago, roads were cleaned within a couple of days, along with the commuter lines. 
It hasn’t been all bad though. My wife and I found things to do with our son here. Although much less frequent than the other seasons, we take our son to Miss Lori’s Open Gym playgroup at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center or to Whole Foods for story time. Miss Lori’s playgroup is really a great class to watch your toddler get some exercise and play around with other toddlers. I highly recommend checking it out if you have young kids.
Even though we are in the midst of a tough winter and what is for me personally a different type of winter, I’m looking forward to those days where we can all once again wear flip flops.
I saw something recently that said spring begins in 13 days and summer in 107 days, but who’s counting?
Brian Barth is a contributor and the Director of Digital Strategy for CapeCod.com.
