Winter is HARD.
It just is.
I think it's less hard for people who live near ski resorts and can afford to buy season passes and all.
And I think it might be less hard for Floridians. (Except those Floridians who are waiting on spring training in Ft. Meyers. Winter's pretty hard on them, too.)
Part of the reason you haven't read anything on the Chronicles is that after Christmas, I tend to roll up like a frostbitten hedgehog in my "burrow" on the prairie, waiting, waiting for sunshine and warmth. Hedgehogs don't have a lot to write about, really. And if they DO somehow come up with something, it's likely to be grumpy, so better to grumble to one's bellybutton than publish it, right?
You know what else makes a grumpy hedgehog?
Ridiculous, overly ambitious goals to accomplish in January. It's the longest year of the months, my friends, and it's made much, much longer by strenuous workouts, protein shakes, purging of cupboards, sobriety, increased fruit and vegetable consumption and so forth. Any fault I found with myself in 2016 will be eradicated in January. At least, that's the determined plan on December 28th.
Grumpy hedgehogs are anti-social, too. Not because they don't like people necessarily but because socializing requires an enormous amount of positive conversation (remember, the hedgehog has nothing to talk about), wearing clothes that are not stretchy athletic wear (nothing fits right after the holidays), and polite declining of refreshments unless it happens to be raw carrots or unsweetened hot tea. It's much easier to watch 3 seasons of Death in Paradise while snuggled down in the burrow, trying to pretend it's not -20 degrees right outside the window. For the 7th straight day in a row. Amen.
So, I'm trying to open myself up to embracing certain things about winter. Such as the idea that it's perfectly acceptable to have some sort of soup three times a week and no one bats an eye. It's a good time to sew and knit and paint if one is into that sort of thing. Reading is encouraged; to disappear into a book is basically required in winter months, isn't it? Winter sweaters and layers are very forgiving to holiday bodies. (The one that will be brilliantly toned by March if all goes according to plan.) People play cards in the winter; I don't, but those who do seem to find it great fun. And for my friends who ski and dogsled and snowmobile, it's a glorious time!
That was me trying to be positive.
I know.
It was a feeble, trite attempt and nobody bought it, least of all this grumpy frostbitten hedgehog who is sincerely thinking of going back to wine in the evenings and just getting through to February.
To be continued...
