Winter, You Can Leave Now

No need to say goodbye

If I had to pick a favorite season, it would be fall, hard-and-fast, no hesitation.

The temperatures in Kentucky’s falls are usually perfect, in my opinion, with most days being in the 60s or 70s, and the evenings are cool, making bonfires a frequent indulgence for us.

My article Bonfires Are Magical can tell you a bit more about how I feel about that, if you are interested in a detour.

The colors of the trees are delightful, which I’ve gone on about in my past article October Trees, and the days are still long.

I love the later sunsets, visits to the park, and more time outside without being miserable.

Winter, not so much. Could we go outside? Certainly. But would it be pleasant? That would be a no. It is freezing today. My toes and nose are icicles!

It’s misery.

And the days feel like they’re over in the time it takes to sneeze.

The sun goes down before we even eat dinner, and it feels like midnight at 7:00 pm.

I love snow … pictures. Snow itself, not so much. Not my jam. Sledding? Fine. But it’s COLD. So … that ruins it a bit, at least for me.

I hate wearing a coat, so when it’s 12 degrees outside, I am not amused. I don’t mind being chilly. I’d prefer it to wearing a bulky coat that strangles the life out of me, but you wouldn’t believe how up in arms people get about seeing me without one.

“You’re making me cold!”

“Where’s your coat?”

“You need to dress for the season!”

Ugh, grumble. It’s all I can do not to bite people sometimes. I wear a coat when it’s absolutely necessary. My necessary just happens to be different than yours.

But … I’ve been working on trying to have a more positive mindset, so … let’s take this on a nice positive trot, fleeing the pessimistic slant I have foisted upon Winter in his innocent frostbite-inducing glee.

What are winter things I do enjoy?

Hmmmmm.

Hot chocolate. With marshmallows. The memories you can build with the help of a mug and a hot drink are innumerable. There isn’t much better than hugging a warm mug with a kiddo tucked up against my side, or even beaming at me from across the room.

Snowmen. I just love them. I have so many winter decorations that I can barely find places to put them all, and it is almost solely because I have an obsession with snowmen.

We used to build a real one every year, but my girls have gotten to the age that they don’t particularly want to anymore, and I hate the cold (in case that wasn’t clear), so we just admire other people’s these days, along with the ones I stick in every nook and cranny of the house.

Cardinals. I feed my birds year-round, so I have a lot of birdie visitors, even in the winter, and there is nothing more beautiful than a cardinal on a backdrop of snow.

We’re supposed to get our first substantial (for our area — I’m sure other places have different criteria) snowfall this coming week, and I’m dreading it, especially since my vehicle decided to up and croak recently. It was an AWD, and the temporary vehicle I’m driving right now definitely is not. There are worse things in life, of course, as I wrote about in my story Life Comes with Curveballs, but I’m definitely going to miss the extra layer of cozy-in-my-belly feeling I get from driving a vehicle that feels safer for winter roads.

Soon enough, spring will arrive, and all the flowers will bud as the cycle begins anew, and in the meantime, I’ll bask in the warmth of shared mugs of hot chocolate and count the blessings in my life, because there are many, not the least of which is my beautiful family.

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