Embracing Winter
My son is working on his schoolwork. I just finished putting a load of laundry into the dryer. Outside it's raining--sort of. The temperature is hovering around freezing, so that makes the rain alternate between liquid and solid. Small icicles are hanging off of the mailbox and bird feeder!
When I lived in Florida, I thought winter "up north" meant roaring fireplaces, wool clothes, and multiple mugs of hot cocoa. Obviously my vision did not include the actual OUT doors. I've learned a lot about the reality of winter in the last 13 years.
For instance, I've discovered that two things are important:
First, PLAN and get yourself and your home ready. For years I seemed to think like the proverbial grasshopper. It was always a shock to me when winter conditions came around. Because I didn't prepare properly, I was always cold and miserable. Now I've learned to make preparations at the beginning of October.
Second, change your mind. This was much more difficult for me. Florida is just plain easier than New England in the winter. And warmer. My mindset was one of gritting my teeth and counting the days until spring finally made an appearance.
I knew things needed to change. Before last winter, I made a major decision: I was going to ENJOY winter. I was going to make it a point to look FORWARD to it. Then I had to figure out how. The very first thing I did was fix my house. Our bedrooms upstairs were so cold, we had to wear hats to bed. Getting up in the morning was pure torture. I got busy and made that part of life much more pleasant. (Click HERE and start reading at the bottom to see my solution for last winter!) Along with all the furniture moving, I made a choice to let only positive words regarding winter fall from my mouth. I bit my tongue a lot last winter.
My 14th chilly season is now upon me. Icy rain outside, cozy home inside. A pot of tea is brewing. My son has finished his multiplication worksheet. The firewood is ready for the wood stove. In just a moment, we're going to cozy on the couch under a warm throw and read the history book. After that I'll strip the cotton sheets off our beds and turn them into nice warm nests of flannel and comforters.
I am embracing winter.
5 comments:
The only thing I like about winter is that you don't have to mow your lawn! My husband has made preparation this year by getting a snow plow for his lawn tractor! That should make things easier! (Don't forget I have a new blog!)
I love this: "Obviously my vision did not include the actual OUT doors" Ahaaa haaa!
Mary--Oh, yes. I like the break for the yard work!
Trixie--Sad, but true.
Thanks for the reminder. Thank goodness the snow melted, and it warmed up. I just took advantage of a gorgeous sunny morning (now clouding over) to put away most of the flower pots, sprinklers, misc. junk. The leaves are raked off the sidewalk. (The lawn will have to wait. Maybe the wind will blow them away.) There are still a few heavy things that J will have to take care of.
It's funny, but winter always sneaks up on me. For one thing, the weather here usually stays really nice and then changes drastically 1 to 3 days. Always has. You would think that after 50+ years I'd remember this. My husband (born and raised in Southern California) often completely forgets that certain things have to be done before a hard freeze.
Anyway, you may keep your Northeastern winters. ;) Even tho it gets cold, windy, and wet/snowy, ours are almost tropical compared to where you live.
Hello dear.You have written a great post. Going to share with my followers on twitter. Thanks for sharing.
Multiplication worksheets
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