Winter Woes

About this time of year in the upper peninsula people all start getting the itch for some warmer weather. Trips to tropical destinations start looking pretty good when you are facing days upon days of temperatures only in the high teens and nights well below zero. Combine that with the snow which has now totally encased our mail box (literally, I can only see the little door peaking out of a sea of white) and good old cabin fever starts to set in.

I confess I start getting tired of winter as well, although not as bad as some. I have more of a problem with the mud season that passes for spring around here. No pretty budding trees and little daffodils..... more like mounds of slushy, brown snow, mud-caked, dirt-caked, salt-caked roads, yellow grass, and oh, more dirty snow. And it can last for a couple of months before suddenly bursting into a cool summer. Yeah, I will take the days of endless snow over mud season any time.

The truth is I find winter beautiful. There is something about the starkness, the cool clean of it all that appeals to me. When I step out on a cold winter's day and take a breath I can really feel the air going into my lungs, filling me up, and for a moment I remember how my body breathes in and out like this all day long with no conscious thought on my part. I like the crunch of snow under my boots and the utter silence achieved by winter. I enjoy the fact that I can walk all the way around the lake at my in-laws and never see another living soul (aside from the huge black lab trotting efficiently ahead of me.) I love laying in bed on a cold night tucked contentedly in under a pile of blankets, Clay softly snoring next to me, our house a small haven of warmth and security. I adore curling up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa, a blanket, one of my cats, and the anticipation of opening a new book. And, the sound of my daughter's laughter as she rides in her snow tube, echoing across the frozen landscape of our neighborhood can certainly thaw the coldest heart.

So, when I am huddling my face in my jacket as I make a run across the parking lot to the grocery store in negative wind chills, I will try to remember what I love about winter and not wish for its hasty departure just yet. After all, next comes mud season.