I’m from Michigan, so forgive my crabbiness: It is supposed to snow in the winter, and it is supposed to be cold. Why, then, the almost constant drumbeat about snowmageddons, with weathermen and weatherwomen stoking panic at the prospect of a few inches of snow?

It takes months sometimes to get a court date for the simplest thing. But along comes the weatherfolk, and suddenly all bets are off, and court dates are in jeopardy. Clients start calling a day or two in advance: “Will court be canceled?’ “What will happen if the courts are closed?” “Do I have to be there if it snows?”