I had the privilege of going roller skating with some of my friends in St. Charles a couple of weeks ago. When they invited me, I had the image in my mind of the skating rinks I am used to at home: 12-year-olds tentatively inching across a dirty, greased sheet of plastic set to the soundtrack of cheesy oldies music and the admonitions of its crotchety old owner.

Face it: Snow can suck, and that’s not just the Floridian in me talking. It’s not only cold, but it’s also hazardously slippery, it melts into slush, and it looks nasty after a few days. Unfortunately, this is St. Louis, which means we could be done with snow for the year or it may still be hitting us in April. So I guess we should be prepared to make the best of it. There are a few St.