We've all learned by now how I feel about the Winter. And the cold. And the rain. And the grey. And the dark. If you don't know all you have to do is look at the many different blogs that I have written in the past year and a half about the topic. What it comes down to is that I'm just not a fan of any weather that isn't sunshine.
Just to add some bi-polar to this blog. As much as I don't like the fall, winter or half of spring in the Pacific Northwest. I kind of feel like I got cheated this year. Weird I know. It's January 6th and it was almost 50 degrees outside, there hasn't been any snow this year. And it doesn't look like there is going to be. The thing about snow is that at least there is a break in the rain and grey monotony. Plus, you get to have a little bit of fun in the snow, after you get done worrying about how to get to work/get kids to school/ get out of work/ keep kids home. Plus snow means that you got to have winter. My favorite snow is the snow that you just wake up to in the morning. Where everything is clean and white and smooth and bright and it's a surprise. Maybe that's why I like snow, it's bright like the sun, when you can't have the sun.
I also feel like the snow is something that you can look forward to when there isn't a whole lot else to look forward to after Christmas. Someone, ages ago, decided that during the months of endless darkness, when the light is gone, we get to have holidays. First Halloween, just when it's starting, then Thanksgiving, when you're as annoyed as you can be with the dark and grey. Then we're distracted by Christmas and New Years when the darkness is absolutely at it's worst. But what then?
Then you have the cold dark of January, with nothing to look forward to except Spring. February isn't much better, Valentines Day, in the cold and dark I suppose. March it's getting better, there's more light, but there is still the incessant rain, which continues right on through May. Spring starts in May, I love May.
So, I guess what I have discovered is that although I hate the grey and the cold and the rain, what I really hate is the fact that there isn't anything really exciting to look forward to until May when you can start spending time outside again. Which is probably why this is the time of year I'm always looking for a project, or a change of some kind. In the past two years I have started at a new property in January, this year I did it a little early in October. This is also the time of year that I want to plan a trip, or fifty. I love leaving town in February, because by February I feel like I'm going insane in the dark rain.
I found the word vorfreude while I was searching for pictures for this blog. Which is the joy that come from imaging future pleasures. Ah, future pleasures. I'm a planner, we all know that. I want to plan to be someplace warm, and sunny. I want to plan for things to happen that will end the monotony of the day in day out darkness. A trip. A new venture. A new hobby. Another trip. That's what gets me through winter.
I know that I'll make it through the Winter. I have made it successfully through 32 Pacific Northwest Winters. And I'm sure I'll make it through a few more. In the mean time I'll fill myself with vorfreude by planning for the Winter, years in the future, that I won't have to spend the October through May wishing for sun, because I'll already be in it.
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