When people hear me say I hate summer their eyes do that bug-out-of-your-face thing you see in cartoons. I get it, I’m the minority not the majority, but there are other people who love winter too! For example, my roommate, which is pretty lucky since we have to agree on the temperature of our room. All I can say is that the window is always open and at night it gets cold enough to keep my water bottle chilled.
I’m here to convince all you non-believers that winter isn’t so bad and that it has more to offer than just the pretty white snow. Being from Wisconsin, and right next to the lake, no less, the Table and I get some of the worst winters there are. If you don’t know what lake effect snow is, you’re really missing out. It’s a beast. Here are my reasons for loving the weather from November to March:
1. Let’s start with the obvious one: snow.
Snow! Snow! Snow!
Here are a few pictures from the winter they cancelled school on six different occasions. The first one is of my brother peeking through a tunnel we dug on the hood of a car. The red thing in the second one is our car. When we opened the garage door that’s how high the snow was. The third one has the criss-cross imprint of our fence. We moved the fence and the snow just stayed there because it was so heavy. You can see me in the background and it was almost higher than my waist.
When I was little I loved to play in the snow and if I still had a pair of snow pants that fit me I would lay in it and just look at the sky. Even if you hate everything else about winter, you can’t deny that snow is beautiful.
2. Hats, mittens, and scarves.
Besides the fact that they’re super cute, hats are so fun to wear. I’ll admit I often wear them around the house just for fun. And I say mittens because I don’t like gloves. The way they separate my fingers feels like they’re making them colder not warmer. Below is a picture of a scarf I wove that I’m particularly proud of. The scarf is laying on the next item of my list.
3. blankets, slippers, and sweatshirts.
The blanket above is special to me because I got it in North Dakota the first time on a mission trip which I now do annually. Don’t you guys just love curling up inside with a blanket and a movie?
4. Hot Chocolate
I’m one of those people who can eat ice cream year round, but hot chocolate is seasonal. I don’t like coffee but that can count too. A warm drink is just ten times better when it’s cold out and you can feel it warming up your insides. Doesn’t this picture look like it could be a Starbucks add?
5. Seeing my breath and letting the tips of my ears get red.
I once heard someone compare seeing your breath to feeling like a dragon which I thought was funny, but I think it’s more like seeing my life. This is evidence that I am alive, and every part of my body is buzzing with the cold. And then you go inside and press your palms to your ears and you can feel them thaw. I love that.
6. But one of my favorite parts is the smell.
I could go one forever with this list: ice skating, snow days, icicles, but I always get most excited by the smell that tells me winter is coming. It’s not so much a distinct smell as it is just crisp air. When you breathe is deeply and it smells cold and fresh. That’s one of my favorite parts. So for all you winter haters I hope there’s at least one thing on this list that convinced you to hate the season maybe just 1% less. Now it’s your turn to convince me why I should like summer.
seeyouatnoon 