The other day, I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a tweet from the Another Mother Runner ladies to the effect of, “Yes, we’re all sick of winter, but let’s try to think positive for a minute.”  (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist.)  And the tweet caught me off guard and pulled me up a bit, because I’ve definitely been guilty of whining and moaning and complaining about winter this year.  (I know it’s not just Buffalo, and that most of the country is getting pounded, so I can commiserate with everyone else who is sick of it… but, at the same time, when there are more people who are sick of it, there’s more complaining on the internet.  To which I have added more than my fair share.)  So I decided to take a leaf out of Sarah and Dimity’s book and look on the bright side.  It should be easy for me, because I grew up loving the cold season.  I love to ski, snowboard, ice skate, cross-country ski, hike on snowy trails, and I used to enjoy every blessed moment of the chilly times.  I’ve missed out on a lot of the good stuff winter has to offer this year because we have the wee one.  Next year, I think, she’ll be up for more fun times in the snow and I can’t wait for that.  But in the meantime, let’s look on the bright side.  Here’s what I love about winter:

• When Peanut makes that ^ face.  I’ll gladly drag her around on that sled as long as she wants, if she keeps those smiles and giggles coming.
• The feeling of snowflakes getting caught in my eyelashes while I’m out on a run.

• Feathery etching on the windows in the morning.
• Mountain sports!  Skiing and snowboarding and feeling the wind in my hhhhhh-arms (name that TV show… I know Katie will get it).
• The Olympics, of course!  Only every four years, but Olympic winters are extra-magical.

• The solemn peace of a forest under cover of a fresh snowfall.
• Hand-knit scarves and tams and wraps and anything else, because they bring the cozy like nothing you can buy.

• Watching big flakes float down, while wrapped in a cozy blanket, knowing you have nowhere to be and nothing to do but curl up with a book and/or cuddle with your sweetie and sip tea or cocoa.
• Citrus fruits!  I can’t get enough; they’re a winter staple.

• The sound of snow crunching under my feet as I walk or run on a wooded trail… or a city street.  Both have their own magic in the winter.
• The particular blue of a winter sky.

• Baby hats.  Especially ones that look like kitties.  (Please ignore my disheveled appearance and focus on the baby, mmmmm-kay?)

The days are getting longer, and daylight savings is here, and soon it’ll be spring, and this winter – dreadful as it’s been at times – will be a memory.  And I do hope next year isn’t quite as vicious.  But I’m going to make an effort, for as long as this winter lasts, to look on the bright side, complain less, and remember that even though it tries my patience from time to time, I’m a northern girl and I do love winter.

Why do you love winter?  C’mon, you can think of something.