Ugh, Winter

Am I the only one who thinks winter really blows? And if you live in Iowa, the winter literally blows. I don’t remember this kind of wind when I was growing up. Not only do we have cold and snow and frost and ice, we can now add wind to the mix. And to make matters worse, we have to have a "feels like" temperature that is several degrees lower than the already craptastic temperature. Thanks a boatload mother nature. Ugh, winter.

The Midwest has four distinct(ish) seasons. Which I love. I would miss three of the four seasons if we did not have them. Let’s start with spring.

Spring
Brown everything turns into beautiful colors and fresh blooms. Heavy winter coats get tucked away for light jackets and capris. Perhaps a pair of open-toed shoes or flip-flops? Life is good. You begin to come out of hibernation. And then a miracle happens. Summer arrives. Hooray!

Summer 
Summer = perfection (minus the mosquitoes of course). You can be outside anytime, for approximately three months you can go to the pool every day. The sun shines. It stays light later. Our family discovered a love for camping, canoeing and boating last summer. So many great memories from summer. Life is great. And just when you’re starting to get sick of the heat (notice I said “you” and not “me”...because I never get sick of the heat) fall makes its way into your life.

Fall/Autumn 
While summer is awesome sauce, fall is pretty cool too. But it is also a weird season. Sometimes October can be 90 degrees or 50 degrees. Very unpredictable. But inevitably, you can start to get out your chunky cable knits, go on long road trips to look at the leaves changing and visit apple orchards. Football season. And a crisp evening sitting in the driveway enjoying adult beverages with your neighbors? It doesn’t get much better.

Winter
And then the sh#$ hits the fan. Winter arrives and is usually pretty pissed off. Everything turns brown and dreary in an instant. And to make matters worse, the time change makes it pitch black at five o'clock in the afternoon. So kids can only play outside for a hot minute after school and then are quarantined to the house with me (more wine? Yes, please). What a downer. In central Iowa, it gets cold first. Not a pretty snowfall with mild temps to gently introduce us to the new season, but zero degrees. Or (hold me) negative. WTH is with negative weather? It makes no sense and just sucks.

I’ve always been prone to being cold, but the last several years I’ve never been colder. Does anyone else feel this way as they age? I honestly don’t hate (don’t hate does not equal like for the record) the beauty of a fresh snowfall. I don’t hate driving in winter conditions (I grew up in northern Iowa...these central Iowa peeps have no idea what extreme winter driving conditions are). But the cold. Holy sweet mother. I came across this meme a couple of years ago:

Preach little depressed alien man! So much truth to this. Every outside winter activity is dead to me for this reason. Why would you want to spend time outside when the air hurts your face? There are so many warm inside spaces to spend your time in the winter! You might see me bundled up in boots, snow pants with a heavy winter coat and hat, smiling and building snow forts with my children. But I’ll let you in on a little secret...I’m dying inside. I despise playing outside but love my children so they win. Sidenote: what is with the stench that comes from children and their gear that have been playing in the snow? (insert dry heaving)

Wow, this turned out to be a depressing blog. I apologize for that. However, I do not apologize for my aversion to winter. The struggle is real people! Ugh, winter.

Just to end on a high note I’ll give you a few things about winter that I like (tolerate):

• Christmas
• Fireplaces
• Flannel pajamas
• Cute winter hats
• A hot drink on a cold day
• Warm sweaters
• Chili
• Valentines day
• Warm weather vacations
• The end of winter

What do you like about winter? Shed some light on this dreadful season for me!

Until Next Time,
Neko