Sunday, February 11, 2007

I Hate Winter.....



..."Winter Whiners", that is.... You know, the people who are always running around complaining about how cold it is, how they hate the snow....as if complaining is going to change anything. Actually, all it does is annoy those of us who actually LIKE winter. To those people I say: "MOVE....or shut the hell up!"

But for a little work and a change of attitude, they too could enjoy the cold and snow. Learn to dress for the conditions! Take up skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing.....something, anything, just get your lazy ass off the couch! You're missing out! The first steps are the hardest - overcoming inertia and taking the easy way out by hibernating. The rewards are well worth it.

There's something wonderful about a fresh snowfall that blankets everything and muffles sounds. The impossible blue of the sky and the brilliant, sparkly white of a sunny day are rare treats only to be found during the months that so many dread. Pity those who've never known or appreciated that fresh, crisp, clean air, the comfort of a steaming bowl of stew after a day of skiing, the ear-to-ear grin of the first spring bike ride of the season.....

I don't know why, but there's something deeply gratifying to being properly clothed, outdoors and realizing that you're comfortable that makes one feel like something from a Robert Service poem:

"I have clinched and closed with the naked North, I have learned to defy and defend;
Shoulder to shoulder we have fought it out -- yet the Wild must win in the end
."