My Inner Elsa

Part of the reason that I like winter are the reasons that everyone else dislikes it: it's cold and inhospitable outside, so you're stuck in the house.

See, for me, that's actually mostly an improvement: I'm generally inside, usually stuck, and the rest of you are out there buzzing around being... productive or something. Ick.

The idea that other people are just as confined as I am, that there's some universality of feeling stuck is somehow comforting to me. I like to picture all of you huddled behind your screens, cozy under blankets, as I'm huddled behind mine, tippy-typing away.

A bit of misery loves company, perhaps, but I find winter (for the most part - there are limits*) to be a cozy, comfortable type of time.  Of course, everyone else in my vicinity is Fed Up (capital F, capital U) with winter, and has taken to Facebook and Twitter to rage about yet another snow day or how spring is bound to show up sometime, right????

But I'm pretty much all set ~ winter allows me the comfort of my heating pad without worrying too much about overheating; nobody else is tan (and therefore can't endlessly comment on how pale I look); indoor activities trump outdoor, with little debate; and - since there are no longer any preschool age children in my care - as long as I don't venture too far outside of my own particular bubble, I'm not a battling a constant barrage of germs. (Knock wood, having said that, because I was with kids this week. And at a doctor's office, so that's twice the wood knocking required.)

And - as I don't have to do the shoveling, and don't mind paying neighborhood boys a little bit extra to clean the ramp, if necessary - I prefer snow to rain, 100%. Rain makes me feel gloomy and Eeyore-ish, sometimes to the point of headaches; Snow makes me feel like curling up with a good book and a cup of Fluff-topped hot chocolate is the only reasonable option in life. Who could argue with that?

So, while everyone around me clamors for winter's end, and moans about yet another storm heading our way, I'm just going to smile slyly, load up my kindle and make sure we're well supplied with hot chocolate.

How about you - Are you begging for spring (open windows, I do miss you), or enjoying the last gasps of our ferocious winter?

 

*These limits are mostly health related - cold is a foe to both my aches and pains and my asthma, the latter of which is worse than it's been in years, because just breathing the nearly frozen air outside is a true struggle. But the heat doesn't help my health either, so it's usually a case of '6 of one...'