Snow in Ashibetsu

This just came in this morning from a former student. It's snowing in Ashibetsu! I think it is time for me to change the tires on our car to studless tires. In contrast to the weather in Ashibetsu, it is a gorgeous sunny day with blue skies here in Makubetsu. The weather brings me to another topic: tires. I had only just heard of "studless tires" right before coming to Tokachi. My father in law was using them on his car. Then when I came here, I learned that EVERYBODY uses special winter "studless" tires and special tires for summer. It was a new thing for me. The summer tires that most people put on their cars were like sports tires or racing slicks. Now way you could use those for winter. In Wyoming I had always used all-season tires and never changed tires during the year. If I weren't married with a child, I think I would try to use only all-season tires again rather than buy another set of expensive studless tires.