It’s here again. Another winter is strong in play and all living beings must bow to its whimsical changes of mind. Blizzards, Chinooks, melting, freezing, snowing, sleeting. We are all victims to its ever changing and rarely pleasant mood. AND it comes with the added bonus of long hours of darkness peppered with a few hours of sunlight. Get some sunshine while you can, if you can! The sun is wonderful, but do not be deceived. It has little bearing on the temperatures that can only be felt once you step outside. We fight the cold temperatures daily. Thermostats get hiked up in an effort to duplicate a spring day indoors. Wood gets stocked up and restocked next to the fireplace if you have one. Or if you are fortunate enough to have a gas fireplace controlled by the simple flip of a switch, it gets flipped.

People seem to either love or hate winter. There is no real middle ground on this. I used to enjoy winter in my younger days and I would embrace all the outdoor winter sports that I could. Skiing and skating were at the top of the list. The added celebration of lights in the middle of the coldest months of the year, AKA Christmas, was an exciting event that came wrapped up in
the long, dark, cold months as if it were a seasonal gift itself to all those who enjoyed the cold months.

As children, I was #4 of 5, my sister and I could hardly wait until the end of each school day so we could put on our skates and walk – yes – while wearing our skates – to the rink at the end of the block. We would skate on a small neighborhood rink forgetting everything else in the world. We
would stay until after dark or until our toes were so cold that we could no longer feel them. We mastered many fancy moves on blades that had dulled with the journey of walking to and from the rink on them as if they were our winter boots.

As we grew older, skiing became a thing for us. How could it not? We lived in the foothills of the Rockies and it was only a 90 minute drive to some world famous ski resorts. $20 would cover both the equipment rentals and the lift ticket. I still fondly remember careening down the mountain on the edge of control enjoying runs that took us half a morning to complete only once! Cautious skiing? Where was the fun in that? How do you find your limits if you don’t push yourself? I admit that pushing myself sometimes looked more like I belonged on a tobogganing hill than a ski run, but that’s how I found my limits. Moguls, jumps, varying degrees of steepness of a run, these were all thrilling factors. Just recalling those adventures compels me want to make them happen again. After all, I’m not dead yet.

Hot Chocolate and Christmas are two defining things of winter. Through the years the Christmas celebration took on different faces as we started our family and grew with them celebrating in age appropriate ways. Towards the end of their years with us, we would forego the presents under the tree and head for the mountains on Christmas Day. Awesome times.

Years have passed. I am now a Grandma and all my children are forming their own celebrations. So what is left if the events of the season no longer happen, and family members prepare for the stress of planning meals and shopping for the other people in their lives? I am tempted to go on a rabbit trail here but a blog about how to handle the Christmas season could
be an entire subject of its own. Right now I am trying to deal with how to make it through winter without loosing my mind.

I really need to be my own best friend through these months. To write my own prescription for winter survival, I need to make it a habit to get outside every day if possible. My tendency is to hunker down indoors and try to pretend that it’s not mid-winter. But mind tricks are not a solution. I must
love the season! Grab my self by the collar and demand enjoyment, banishing a bad attitude. Remember the words of Thumper? (You know – Bambi and Thumper?). “If it weren’t for December, none of us would really appreciate May”. What are the positives things going on in my life right now? There are many (again – another whole blog unto itself). Look beyond the season and embrace the whole picture. Life is really a gift. Each day that I am able to put my feet on the floor and walk to the kitchen for that first cup of coffee, I need to be grateful. My home has a fireplace, so that’s wonderful, but I can’t let myself get bogged down with the little things. The big thing is the gift to live and choose to enjoy every day no matter what is
going on outside. Unless of course you are stuck outside, but again, another blog.

I’ve talked myself out of a slump. The setting of my neighbourhood Starbucks with soft comfy couches and delicious coffee is my current pleasure. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but for today, life is good. If you are currently under a dark wintry cloud that may turn into a blizzard at any time, grab a scarf and hat, force yourself outside, look into the wind and feel the snow!