Final assessment as of March 2012: No, it wasn't worth the long wait.
I can't remember a year when there was so little true winter weather in NW Ohio and SE Michigan until January. So little snow. So little weather that was cold enough for long enough to allow ice to form on rivers, lakes, ponds, or even puddles. It remains to be seen whether what is left of this year's winter can make up for this deficiency. Yes, as a photographer I long for long snowy cold spells punctuated with the clearest brightest sunniest days of the year. As of early January, my photo opportunities have been pretty pathetic. Things didn't get much better during February. March turned out to be the warmest March on record for Ann Arbor, with a higher monthly average temperature than the following April!!!