Slip Sliding Away

See how you don't have to be afraid of the snow? Or even complain about it until you're blue in the face? (Oh wait, was your face blue from the cold?) You can just go out there and have some fun in it! Or watch your kids have fun, if you prefer. Like when it starts snowing at night, and instead of putting them to bed, you tell them they have 5 minutes to get their snow gear on if they want to go sledding. Then watch in amazement as snowpants slide on over jammies, jackets are zipped, boots slip on, and hats and mittens are found. If only getting ready for school were this effortless. If you don't have kids, there's always little lambs who were born on Christmas day, who are growing stronger and noisier all the time, who cry for bottles of milk replacer every time they hear the back door open. "Baaah! Bahhhh! BAAH!!!" Yes, Jingles, I see you. I see you climbing on the wooden lambie play structure Brian made for you. I see you chasing after the kids, the dog, me. I see all four feet spring off the ground at once, and how it appears to startle even you when it happens.

No Christmas lamb? Well, the grown up sheep are pretty fun to watch. Although they seem to have worn some paths so they don't slip on the ice so much anymore. Or they're getting smarter. Either way, when you're down there, you can stick your hands way down into their fleece, and imagine what it would be like to wear that around all day. Seems like your feet would be cold, though.

What? You don't have sheep either? You could always go chicken watching. Although, chickens are much less fun in the sub-arctic temperatures, what with all the keeping their water from freezing, and collecting the eggs before they freeze, and freezing your tuckus off all the while. Forget about the chickens, they'll just make you grouchy.

Okay, okay, I get it, you don't have a little farm to distract you. Still, you can wiggle into your long underwear and take a walk with the dog. Listen to all the different kinds of noises your boots can make: on ice, on soft snow, on crunchy snow, on bare earth, on brown leaves, on ice again. I promise, you will be so absorbed in concentrating on not falling that you will completely forget all your worries. Better yet, bundle up before bedtime on a clear night, step outside and look up. You will instantly remember how small you are, how very short this one winter really is. Or if you absolutely can't stand it, fine. Go inside. Make a cup of tea and put on some fuzzy slippers and relive this wonderful moment. Think about how the earth is resting now. How it is storing up all its energy for the explosion of life that will come in a few months. Think about picking wild blueberries in August, and when you were so hot you couldn't even think, let alone move, and you absolutely could NOT wait until winter.
But please, enough with the complaining about the weather, okay? Some of us are trying to enjoy it.