Good things about Winter

I enjoy the change of seasons in Minnesota. There is a rhythm to the year and variety that keeps life interesting. There are things to complain about in every season, but there is always the next season to look forward to. OK not everyone looks forward to Minnesota winter, but there are some good things about it.

One time many years ago I posted a list on Facebook of “things that are good about winter in Minnesota”. I made it up on the spot at the time, it was not something I read somewhere else. Quite a few people commented and added more things to the list. A few days later I was listening to WCCO radio, a major CBS news and talk station in the Twin Cities. The hosts were talking about things to like about winter, the exact things from my list. I wondered if the three degrees of separation concept came into play where someone working at WCCO must have been Facebook friends with someone who was Facebook friends with one of my Facebook friends. It seems unlikely that they independently had the exact same idea with the same items on their list. Now that winter is here, I am thinking about a version of that list again. Here are my top ten nice things about winter:

1. There are no bugs.
2. You do not have to worry about people prowling around outside at night (it is just tooo cold).
3. You can use the porch or garage for overflow storage of leftover food and Christmas cookies, keeping in mind they may freeze solid.
4. Ice Cream and other frozen foods will not melt in the car if you have other errands after grocery shopping.
5. There is no lawn mowing or yard maintenance.
6. There is no weeding or gardening.
7. The routine and variety of having four distinct seasons is nice.
8. The scenery is different when you can see through the trees in the winter.
9. There are long cozy evenings for reading or watching TV.
10. There are fun outdoor activities like sliding, ice skating, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, ice fishing, and snowmobiling. I don’t do most of those things but I am happy for people who do.

We had a giant bonfire a few years ago to burn a big brush pile and celebrate the winter solstice. I do not think the bonfire ring at the cabin beach will see any action this winter.

There are many ice fishing houses on the lake this winter of all sizes and types. I wrote about ice fishing a couple of years ago, you can read that post here. Wayne likes to fish in both summer and winter, and we regularly have fresh fish for dinner.

There was a very cold snap the week before Christmas with high temperatures below zero Fahrenheit. Since then there has been a ton of snow.

I can keep busy with my projects in the house during the winter, but Wayne gets cabin fever. It is easy to talk about winter being nice when you are retired and do not have to get up early and battle with the elements for work. It does get old after January.

There is another list of reasons why winter is difficult, such as walking the dog in zero degree weather, worrying about falling on slippery walkways, having to shovel the driveway in order to go anywhere, and having plans interrupted by unsafe driving conditions. Those reasons and more are why we went to for Arizona until the end of March!

Wayne had to shovel snow off the top of the RV in preparation for towing it to Arizona at the beginning of January.

It was very frosty the morning we left our home for the three and a half day journey to Gold Canyon, Arizona. By the time we get back home the views will be very different.