We're Good, Thank You Very Much

Having grown up in the north, I love the cold weather.  I love being able to wear my wonderful sweaters.  I love being able to see my breath.  I love the crisp crackle of walking on leaves and grass when it's below freezing.  I love having snow.  I love the smell of the furnace coming on for the first time in the fall.  I love the way the wind takes your breath away when it's cold.  I love bundling up with a hat and gloves, a scarf and a warm jacket.  I wish I could justify buying a pair of fur lined boots like I had in high school or a shearling lamb coat like I always wanted in high school. 

That does not mean I'm in favor of all that is winter.  I hate "wintery mix" as a type of precipitation.  I hate slipping on ice and falling on my ass.  I hate 34 degrees and rain.  I want my snow to come and then go.  It doesn't need to hang around for months and months.  I hate having to call my plumber so often because of busted pipes.  I'm OK with overcast and cool in November but I want my winter to be sunny and bright regardless of the temperature.

And I am very careful not to be too whiny or too critical of the winter weather since I'm not all that happy with our excruciatingly long and very hot summer.  I don't need to get into all the things I hate about summer.  I'll save that for sometime when it's 95 degrees and 95% humidity.

But right now, we're good, thank you very much.  I say that without any whining.  We have had lovely snow and it's gone now.  We've had more than our share of ice and wintery mix precipitation and it's gone now.  I've worn every one of my sweaters at least once this winter and some of them repeatedly.  I have hauled hay over and over again and worried about the animals daily.  I've built warm places for the cats to sleep since they totally refuse to come into the house.  I've beaten the ice out of water troughs often enough.

Yes.  I think I can say with complete authority.  We're good, thank you very much.  Spring can come on in any time.