Obviously, we’re all ‘over’ winter. Anyone who lives in Indiana, Illinois or
Michigan (and probably more than ½ the country) would say the same. I have said and have said to me on countless occasions,
“I can’t believe the snow, the cold, the weather, etc.” For this piece, though, I decided not to focus on the ‘why us’
thoughts but to focus on things I love about winter. What about the unsung heroes of Winter? How shall we honor these precious items? I thought I’d list a few to cheer myself up and provide a moment of zen
as I count down the days until Spring (42-ish days from now).
The Earth needs snow – it’s like taking a breath; you need both
in and out for it to work. This winter
is more like the Earth in a yawn; it’s taking a huge yawn because it needs the
cold and snow to keep the temperature down and to prevent us from living in the
Kevin Costner futuristic classic, ‘Waterworld’. I’m good with snow for that reason
alone. But there’s more; winter provides
a much needed nap to our friends the bears, as an example; let’s face it, by
December they are getting a bit crabby and could use some downtime from the
hectic life they lead sniffing through garbage and trying to figure out where
their habitats have gone. But this is
not an environmental piece; let’s stick to things that make winter great for
me! This is, after all, my feel good
piece to get through 42-ish days until Spring has sprung.
I do not have to mow the grass; furthermore, I don’t have to
step in dog doo while mowing the grass nor do I have to restrain the curse
words from escaping my mouth while wiping said dog doo off my shoe while mowing
said grass. Picking up icy poop is
really so much easier. Not that I do it,
it’s just a theory.
Pedicures; who needs ‘em?
In fact, my feet are so rarely out of slippers and socks, I’m not even
sure the last time I clipped my toenails.
I wait until there is a complaint from my husband about a stabbing and
then I deal with that issue.
As long as I’m sharing personal hygiene stories (how’d that
happen?), winter allows us to ‘neglect’ to shave our legs from time to time;
from month to month even. Who doesn’t
like to get a nice layer of leg hair to help us warm ourselves against the
frozen tundra? That hair gets pretty
soft after a few weeks, not bad at all as long as you aren’t wearing shorts,
swim suits or Capri pants.
But there are so many other things to be thankful for;
catching up on all the movies I didn’t have time to see last summer. The blockbuster hits of June, July and August
are all rentals now. I have time to
catch up on all the Oscar buzz movies.
Brilliant!
There are a few things I wish I could enjoy more this
winter, if I’m being honest. It’s just
too cold for me to spend much time out in the fluffy white stuff, and I do like
to go tubing or build a fort with the kids.
But I need it to be way closer to 32 degrees for that. But I say that still counts as something I
like about winter. After all, you can’t
make a fort out of sand very easily.
I’m glad I get to drive in the snow short distances; I’m not
a masochist, but I love to drive in snow and feel that little fish tail at the
end of turn; it makes me feel like I have mad driving skills. I’m glad I can
drive in the snow; I know what it feels like, when it’s dangerous and when it is
just plain fun. There are so many people
that can’t do that…not so many that live here but there are people…
I like wearing hats!
Winter lets us bring out our awesome handmade, store bought, swanky
stylish headgear without a second thought! I’ve been rocking a doozy that my sister
knitted me a couple of years ago and I love it.
I also love my leather gloves; especially when I’m driving…see previous
paragraph on driving.
Winter also brings with it something else….hope and
wonder. Spring promises to be around the
corner, but when? We’re all waiting for
the snow to start to melt, for that first glimpse of a crocus peeking up out of
the ground. Who cares what that
Groundhog says, we all want to know when and we hope and wonder when that will
happen. It’s true that I am feeling down
from all the snow but I know that it is going to feed our lake and our Earth,
so I will try to look on the bright side of winter for as long as I can. I hope I can, I wonder if I can…
