Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

The snow has begun to fall here in northern Utah and it is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. My cats are a bit pissed that they can't go outside - they can, but as they are morally opposed to snow, they feel they can't - and the dogs are thrilled to run around in the snow. And, of course, boot camp was inside, so no figure 8 or monster hill.

But mostly I want to comment on the fact that my road has not been nor will it ever this winter be plowed. In Utah, the people pride themselves on paying no taxes. I guess Westerners feel very strongly that there should be no government services. In New York, we paid taxes - and, lo and behold, we had a better economy than does most of the world and certainly better than Utah, so clearly paying taxes doesn't ruin the economy as some of our more friendly Republicans would have us believe.

Here is a list of things I had in New York where people paid taxes:

• Best per pupil funding for education in the nation.
• Streets were always plowed within 24 hours so no one died unnecessarily.
• Instead of the $110 a year for car registration I pay in Utah, I paid $45 for two years.
• Garbagemen picked up everything you put on the street, everything.
• You got to hand in your cans for $.05 a can, which was nice for kids raising money.

The list could go on and on. My good friend once called New York, "the People's Republic of New York" - she's in Arizona. And I laughed. But when I slip and slide down my road, which I will do for the rest of the winter, I think a little about how I miss the good people of New York.