The Winter Blues

I've always said that I like winter here in Minnesota, ... for awhile.

I like it until January 2nd, I've consistently said. Through Christmas and New Years, which is kind of an extension of the awesome Christmas season. Snow and cold seems to go hand in hand with those two holidays, and once they are over, I'm over the snow.

This year, the Winter Blues, or maybe I should call them the Winter Blahs hit early. I was sick of winter even before Christmas came. I'm even more over winter now, and New Years is still a few days away. I should mention that it's unbelievably warm today, it's definitely close or above freezing outside right now. I can hear the snow melting as it falls off the roof and the sun is shining in the window. As soon as I finish typing this, I'm going to ask Matt to go for a walk around the block with me before it starts to get dark. I need all the Vitamin D I can get these days. But nevertheless, it's still winter. In fact, technically - winter just started 7 days ago.

A few weeks ago, I had a particularly bad case of the "I WISH IT WAS SPRING!" syndrome. Matt was in school finishing up finals and I didn't have anything major on the agenda, so I drove to my parents house and walked around in the woods. It only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes because the thin gloves I had on did nothing to keep my fingers warm, and my toes got cold. But while I was outside, I searched for the beauty that is unique to this lonely, desolate season. I did find some.

Winter, in all it's cold, stark and bare entirety, can be quite pretty.

I still think Matt and I will one day move south for the winters. But until then, I'm trying to at least once in a while look for the beauty in the cold.