It’s time to embrace winter

I’m in complete disbelief and shock that I just typed that headline. Some readers may recall that I am a self-professed “summer girl.” Or, lately due to menopause, a “spring girl.” But in recent years, I’ve realized that it’s not good to complain and be grumpy during winter.

It hit me in my late 40s that I, since winter in Indiana typically lasts not just three, but four months, I was spending a third of my life grumbling about the weather/darkness. I used to dream about moving to Florida for the winter and escaping the cold.

However, I’m married to a man who loves winter. (Weird, I know.) John’s not a fan of becoming a snowbird. And since I love him and all, I realized that perhaps I could start adopting more of his attitude towards the season.

I began by learning about and embracing hygge – pronounced HOO-guh – a Danish/Norweigan concept that describes a feeling of contentment and coziness. I’ve written about this in a past column, but a reminder couldn’t hurt.

Hygge involves rituals like lighting candles throughout the home, enjoying a fire, wearing fuzzy socks, baking, and sharing warm comfort food with those we love. We now have both battery-powered “candles” and the real things going every evening. I always turn on our “fireplace” each night … which is just a fake one in our little entertainment center. But it looks nice and even has a heater feature, so I’m content.

I’m the queen of fuzzy socks and enjoy baking, especially pies. There’s no better feeling than getting all warmed up after being outside in the cold, hot chocolate or tea in hand. And we always have family over for a comfort food dish on Sunday evenings in the winter.

Even Elli Shankland enjoys getting out in the winter time. (Photo provided by Amy Shankland)

This year I’m doing other things to help me embrace winter. I strive to bundle up with our dog Elli and get out for a walk at lunch time every day. It may only be 15 minutes, but going around our block a couple of times admiring the snow and sunshine does wonders for us both.

And everything looks so pretty with the snow – well, the stuff that isn’t in the street. The world looks bright and clean. I must admit, I much prefer snow in winter to rain and grey skies. I strive to really admire the sights we don’t ordinarily witness in warmer weather like the sparkling snow on the trees and bushes and the glimmering icicles.

Do you ever bundle up at night and look up at the sky? The stars and planets practically jump out at you! I always love to look up when I let our dogs out at night and see the spectacular view.

Let’s try to reduce our complaining and start to count the blessings of winter from now on. Go one step at a time. It’s taken me years to slowly incorporate all these ideas. But even with baby steps, we can start to be happier and healthier this time of year.

Amy Shankland is a writer and fundraising professional living in Noblesville with her husband John, two sons, two dogs, and a cat. You can reach her via email at amys@greenavenue.info.