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The north wind doth blow

And we shall have snow,
And what will the robin do then,
Poor thing?

He’ll sit in a barn,
To keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing.

    — Anon. (from Mother Goose)

My mother used to read this nursery rhyme to me as a child, and I can still quote it to this day.  If only I could retain World Geography so well.  Maybe I should have learned it when I was three.

Growing up in Virginia, I didn’t see much snow.  But my grandparents lived in Maine, so I did get introduced to "real" winter on the few Christmas vacations we spent with them.  I always romanticized New England winters.  I suppose most kids do.  After all, there is something almost magical about that fluffy white stuff.

When I went to college in Massachusetts, I got more than my fair share of winter.  And I loved every minute of it — the more snow the better.  I drove a little Subaru with 4-wheel drive that was perfect for the snowy winters, and I was practically impervious to the cold.  Even the year that we got a foot of snow in April and everyone else was cursing Old Man Winter, I was still utterly enchanted.

Fast forward to present day.  Let’s just say, I’ve lost . . .  That looooooovin’ feeeelin’. 

How can someone who once loved winter so much detest it so much now?  Because I do detest it.  In fact, detest is not a strong enough word.  Is there a stronger hate word than detest?  Because if there is, THAT’S what I feel towards winter.  It’s just so . . .   so . . .   COLD.  And inconvenient. 

EVERYTHING is more challenging in cold weather.  Especially when you’re a mother of three young children.  You can’t just pick up and go somewhere when it’s cold outside.  You have to find the coats and the hats and the mittens and the shoes and the socks.  In fact, now that I think about it, it is only since becoming a mother that I have begun to loathe winter. 

Hey, wait.  Does that mean I might actually "outgrow" this hatred of winter?  Will it not seem so bad when the kids are older and able to do more for themselves?  Oh, maybe there’s hope!  Because I married a man who has his feet firmly planted on Pennsylvania soil, and I hate to think of spending the next fifty winters in a funk. 

Right now it’s 17 degrees.  SEVENTEEN.  Brrrr.  To everyone reading from south of the Mason-Dixon line, I am sooooo jealous of your weather right now.

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16 Responses

  1. Hey, yeah, it gets better. N went to school at 6:45 with a sweatshirt and a hat. He’s oblivious! Once they get their own clothes on it improves 120%. I love the snow!

  2. In the mountains here in NC we have snow and freezing rain. Here where I am, we have cloudy skys but by Tues of next week we’ll have temps around 75. Its insane, and this is how people are getting so sick.

  3. This is the first time I have been through an actualy winter in 15 years. I forgot that you feel cold IN THE HOUSE, too. This may have something to do with Marvin insisting it be 69 degrees in here.

    But I think you get used to it. Once your kids can get all that stuff on themselves, and you can loll around in your old lady chair, you’ll love winter.

  4. No gettin’ around it, winter is just plain harder with little ones. I feel like I am ropin’ calves to get ’em in their snow gear. It’s going to be a long winter:p

  5. So you’ll hate me when I tell you it’s supposed to be 72 here on Sunday and I’m disappointed because that seems a little warm for cashmere sweaters?

  6. Look, don’t be jealous. While we don’t have snow, it’s cold. And this morning? Freezing rain and sleet… and people here don’t know how to drive in this stuff. They also believe that when they call for snow, that means that they must raid the grocery store. I’m a firm believer that Kroger is in cahoots with the weather people to move product.

    However, in the 1 mile drive to school there were 2 accidents and another near one… so i think if it has to be cold, it would be nice to have pretty snow. As opposed to just brown.

  7. I’m with you, Heather (and Aunt J). I love snow. My philosophy is, if it’s gonna be cold, it might as well snow. I think that’s why I loved Massachusetts so much. Maybe that’s my problem — not enough snow.

    And to those of you who are having 70 degree temps, I’m still jealous, but I can see how I might miss wearing cashmere. 😉

  8. I’ll send you some of my Texas warmth. It was 65 degrees outside when I woke up this morning. It is currently 70. I would prefer something a little cooler though. Its hard to get into the holiday spirit in flip flops and a t-shirt.

  9. I’m with you- on detest the cold too. I live in north/central Tx and this is about as far north as I go.
    I feel for you today- our high is suppose to be 80!!! I actually got sweaty while running errands today and I had a short sleeved shirt on. I don’t know how you northerners do it :).

  10. You need to start skiing or something to do in the snow and you won’t mind the cold so much. We started J skiing when he was in second grade and he loved it so we went every weekend. It’s freezing here at 3* this morning and the possibility of more snow the first of the week. I got my snowmobile back today so it’s all ready to go. It helps so much to have fun things to do in the snow so I think you are right, you need snow not just cold!

  11. By mid-day today it was in the mid 60’s but first thing this morning we were much cooler and we usually revert that back way at night. It’s like getting three seasons in one day! UGH and it’s horrible on my sinuses and my girls!

  12. Funny – because I’m jealous of YOUR weather! Well, at least the snow. True, it’s more difficult with the little ones when it’s cold, but at least if you get snow it’s worth it. Here it’s just not worth it. And we are about to have 3 days of 70 degree weather – it’s nuts! I’d do just about anything to get some “real” snow!!! My son is 13 and it was the year before he was born the last time we got any decent snow. I’d love for my kids to experience a good hard blizzard like we had that year! It was so much fun!

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