We are nearing the end of January, just about to slide into the month of love and romance and chocolate and all that jazz (aka: February, in case you didn’t know). And we are also in the middle of winter (at least, those of us north of the equator). Now, there are those among us (I shall refrain from naming them) who do not properly appreciate winter.
This is an affront to me okay so “affront” may be a little strong, but details. I love winter. It is the best of all four seasons. This is a fact. Period. No argument can sway me because this is truth: winter is spring, summer, and fall’s superior. But, alas, there are those who don’t agree with me; simply put: they are wrong. And this is post is to tell you why (and because a blog on only serious things would be boring).
First of all, I’m not going to disparage the other seasons no, actually, I probably will. This post is solely about the winter’s virtues and the other seasons’ shortcomings. Note: part of the reason I’m writing this is because it is currently 45 degrees outside, and it’s been raining for the last week like it’s spring. These are great, depressing crimes against winter, and I hope to remind myself that most winters aren’t like this one.
I am a great lover of the cold, and because I live in the wilds of Wisconsin, it can get pretty cold (in 2014, we had more than 40 days below zero. Boom.). I can’t stand the heat and sweat of summer. The sticky, smelly damp that clings to the skin when the air temperature rises above 75 degrees. The humidity that suffocates you the instant you step outside. But it isn’t so with winter. It’s crisp and clear and cold. The first inhale that sends frost through your lungs and color to your cheeks and reminds you that you are alive.
And there are the other things that come along with the cold. Fuzzy socks to slide around on the hardwood and tile. Soft slippers to pull over chilled feet. Cozy blankets to burrow under. Hot chocolate with whipped cream to sip. Hats to cover messy hair and keep ears warm. Scarves to wind and tie in fun knots. Fires to start and then admire. Frozen lakes and ponds to dance on and walk across. So many wonderful things come with winter’s cold, including snow.
Who in their right mind does not like snow? From heavy, packable snow to powdery flakes, it’s magical. Fall ends in death, people, that’s all there is to it. Sure, the colors of fall are pretty, but then everything ends up naked and dead and ugh. Snow is the blanket that covers fall’s crimes and brings beauty back to the world. Waking up to the blinding brightness of sunlight on snow is one of my favorite things. The colors of winter, the whites and the pale blues and the blacks, are exquisite, crystalline.
Speaking of the sun, yes, winter days are short, and people can find the darkness depressing, but winter is the only time when many people actually see the sun rise over the horizon oh, look, another strike against summer: no one besides my dad wakes up at four in the morning and so no one besides my dad sees the sunrise in the summer, so there, summer, with your coveted long days. But winter sunrises can come around seven, and there’s little that can compare with a fresh fall of snow set on fire by the sun’s rising rays.
Winter is a time of sleeping, when the earth rests. It’s a time of soup and naps. It’s a time of learning and stillness. It’s the time of quiet before life explodes again in the spring.
Mmmmmmm. Now the temperature just needs to drop below freezing again so that it actually feels like winter. Anyway, those are some of the reasons that I find winter so enchanting, so much better than all the other seasons combined.
What about you? Do you love winter too (the correct answer is yes)? If not *gasp*, what’s your favorite season? Why? Or, do you not care about seasons at all?
P.S. – This was a short peeps. I actually kept it under a thousand words even though I can sing winter’s virtues for days.
Penprints 
I like Autumn the best, because it’s warm enough to not wear a coat but cold enough to wear a jacket. I love jackets. I love being able to take walks outside without wind cutting into my body. I love the colors of Autumn. I love watching the world put on its best before descending with dignity into Winter. But Winter is my second favorite. :)
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I love how you said the world puts on its best before descending into with dignity into winter. 😊 It’s always so interesting to hear why people love the seasons they do! Thanks for commenting!!
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:) Thanks! And I definitely agree. :)
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lol – I know I’m one of the ones you’re preaching to. ;)
Thinking back, I’m pretty sure winter *used* to be one of my favorite seasons. Growing up in north Florida, there wasn’t much of a fall and I loved when the air would finally get a hint of that crispness. To me, that crispness smells like Christmas. It was an indication that Christmas was around the corner – my favorite time of year with the decorations, spicy cinnamon scents, twinkling lights, pumpkin & peppermint flavored everything. And an opportunity to wear my long-sleeves, fuzzy socks, warm tea, etc.
But it was never a biting, bitter cold. Just cozy & invigorating.
My first few years out west, the winters were fun. I’d never seen snow more than half an inch deep or snow that didn’t melt away within a few hours. It was exciting & different though I never did really like playing in it. I liked the beauty of the snow and the peaceful quietness of it. The town we lived in kept the roads plowed 24/7 and even the few times things got icy, I was able to drive slow enough down slopes and aim for the curb if I was nervous about sliding into the roads. The only thing I had trouble with was I’d get excited for Spring in March or so, only to be plummeted back into Winter through May which was disappointing. But after 3-4 years, I began noticing that around October, I’d get much more sensitive, snippy, depressed – and the feeling would last until the sun was around a lot. Then I was in an accident – no fault of my own but another car slid into me and it gave me traumatizing anxiety about being on the roads whenever there was ice or snow. Now, a lot of that was God working in me to relinquish control – that I’d been obsessed with the illusion that I can plan for and control everything in my life and I needed to surrender to Him. But it still made me like winter even less and it made my SAD even worse. I had to take a lot of vitamins and supplements to feel even slightly like myself all winter. And then we moved to a state that barely plowed the roads, had harsher, longer, colder winters, and money was tighter so we had a more difficult time keeping the house as toasty as I’d prefer. I loved summer when I could open the windows and enjoy the fresh air, light breeze, hear the birds…
Now I’m finally back in Florida. And my wool coat hangs unused in the closet and I’ve only broken out my jacket 3 times so far. I’m a little sad that most of my favorite tops are long sleeve and I haven’t gotten to wear them much. But I’m still soaking the heat in – my bones don’t feel like they have thawed quite enough yet. ;) Summer was never one of my favorite seasons and it’s too hot to have the windows open. So I’m preferring fall/spring right now. Winter might become a favorite again in a year or two. But I have a feeling I’m one of those who likes it in small doses. With lots of sunshine inbetween. :)
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Whoa! It sounds like you have some valid reasons for not loving winter, as much as it pains me to say. ;) At least you don’t love summer. ;)
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Yep, winter is the absolute best. I feel alive in winter, contrasted to summer, when I feel like I’m melting. I don’t really get much of a winter where I live, but boy, we get Summer. It’s sticky, hot, humid… *shudders*
I should move to Alaska. :P
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Same!!!! I just want to lay around in a tub of ice in the summer!! I can handle the dry heat… almost, but the humidity *shudders in agreement* Ha! Yes! I think I’d like Alaskan summers. :)
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After 4-5 years away from FL, I became pretty acclimatized to the weather. I remember my sister visiting one summer and I complained about the humidity one day…and she looked at me like I was completely off my rocker. But for South Dakota it was really, very humid that day! lol
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Haha!! :) That’s quite a change in climate!
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I apologize in advance, you’re going to hate me.
……but I hate winter with a fiery passion.
Okay, okay, hear me out before you start throwing the rotten tomatoes and gathering your tar and feathers. ;) I live in the South. So winter here consists of LOTS of 30-40 degrees. That’s it. We get snow MAYBE once or twice, and it lasts three or four days, tops. If we got more snow, I think that I would love winter. But instead, we just get the gross in-between weather where it’s cold enough to make you miserable, but not cold enough to get that beautiful blanket of white.
(I’ll also add in that I’m the most easily cold person ever. I can be cold at seventy degrees. So winter and I are not friends.)
Then there’s the fact that in winter, literally EVERYONE is sick. So you’re constantly either sick yourself, or avoiding that person next to you who doesn’t seem to know how to cough into their elbow.
Summer is my favorite season. I love the warmth (although I hate the humidity), and just the freedom of it. Life is calmer during the summertime, you don’t experience all the craziness of school and life. It’s such a nice break, and I find myself finally having time for all of the projects that I want to attempt during the summertime.
Nevertheless, I hope that you thoroughly enjoy your winter ;) I’ll just be dreaming of sunshine.
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Oh no, Grace Anne. How can you be one of THEM?!?? *wails* But I suppose that if you live in a place where it doesn’t get properly cold and rarely snows… *sniff* maybe it’s okay to not love winter… BUT TO LOVE SUMMER INSTEAD. *muttering* ;) Keep dreaming of sunshine, then. ;) And thanks for commenting! :)
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I am a Winter lover too. Spring (muddy, pollen-y wasteland) Summer (hot and blistering –reminds me of another place I don’t want to go) Fall (ok… I can stand fall because it tells me Winter is coming!!!!)
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