Like shale oil in the Dakotas, black sand beaches in Hawaii or coal in West Virginia, Maine has a precious natural resource, this winter especially, which is white and fluffy. This economic driver draws people here between December and April.

But for as much as we Mainers enjoy seeing a coating of snow, when we measure most storm totals in feet rather than inches, at some point it gets old. Frequent storms, heavy snowfalls and bitterly cold temperatures during the last month or so are testing not only Mainers’ patience and good spirit, but also the strength of our furnaces, car batteries, shovels, snowblowers and, last, but not least, backs. There’s a general sense that we are all getting a little sick of shoveling, driving with a white-knuckle death grip on our steering wheels and wearing nine layers of clothing. This cold snap is about to make us all snap.

But while we are surely weary of winter, for every downside there’s an upside. Deep snow, while difficult to drive a vehicle around in, makes for great skiing and snowmobiling. The cold also keeps the snowpack in place, which we’ll look back fondly on in a few months during mud season, which we fully expect will be epic this year.

Cold temperatures are also great for those selling winter attire, heating oil, furnace repair services and everything else that is impacted by cold and snow. Tow truck drivers, plowing services, hardware stores and battery sellers have been much busier than usual. While many of us loathe seeing those flakes fall from the sky, there are many who profit from the weather – though some are crying uncle since many of them, notably plow drivers, are at the point of exhaustion. And we can’t ever remember hearing plow drivers talking this way, so that tells you something right there about the severity of the weather.

The stark reality here is that Mainers are withstanding one of the worst winters on record. Those of us still here can therefore revel in our imperviousness to the cold. We still get to work. We still manage to get the kids off to school. We get to the store to get our staples. When it gets intolerable outside, we can take comfort in our ability to withstand everything Mother Nature can throw at us. We look at those snow piles along our driveway as a point of pride, rather than a burden we had to bear. We love telling friends and family “from away” how much misery we’ve gone through this winter. This is the strange psychological outlook required of all true Maineiacs.

Beyond employing a positive mental attitude – and perhaps a bit of self-delusion – to help us buffet these unrelenting storms, the other key to thriving during a tough Maine winter is finding a way to use it to your advantage. Skiing and skating are great ways to throw it back in Old Man Winter’s eye. It can be expensive to head to the big resorts, but nearby Shawnee Peak in Bridgton or Lost Valley in Auburn offer a good time for a lower price. Pineland Farms in New Gloucester offers an amazing network of woodland and open field trails for cross-country skiers, as do many local green spaces. And for snowshoers, all the local trails that are great for hiking in the summer are ripe for the taking with the right equipment. But even a wintertime staple such as skiing or snowshoeing can be a miserable experience in these bitterly cold temperatures. And dangerous. One mishap out on the trails can turn into a life-and-death situation. So, a little common sense, along with that suffer-and-die mentality, is needed.

For those unable or unwilling to head outdoors to take advantage of the snow and ice, winter can be a great time to get indoor house projects done or just relax and enjoy a good movie or book. Bad weather can be a welcome tonic for people who go-go-go all week long and need a little downtime on their days off. A violent blizzard or 0-degree temps allow hard-charging Mainers to rest and recharge.

However you’re spending this particularly brutal winter, the best coping mechanism – when you just can’t take another snowflake falling from the sky – is thinking about a lovely Maine summer day. It’ll be here before we know it. (We think.)

–John Balentine, managing editor