The Problem With Winter Is..

That it's both beautiful and terrible at the same time.

This is the time of the year for me where the beauty of flowers and gorgeous blue skies are found only in pictures or kept as decorative accents inside our homes. For months at a time, Mother Nature rests in a deep frozen slumber designed to refresh herself to meet the demands of Spring and rising sap.

For humans, the winter is a long dark time of cold and depths of snow cover that must be dealt with before we can leave our homes to face a treacherous commute on icy roads to travel to our destinations. For some of us it's a time of anxiety, sadness and depression. For those true lovers of nature in any condition there is skiing, ice skating and snowmobiling.

In between are those like myself. People who no longer need to engage in the rat race and can take the time to contemplate what happens outside our windows. For those of us who are not driven to escape ourselves and our thoughts, no matter how dark, the view outside our windows is not bleak. I suspect that ability stems from our sense of superiority over those who do not have the choices we do.

I can choose to pay attention to the weather forecast and plan accordingly. I don't need to rush out at the last minute to stock up on necessities in case the storm comes. I can plan my outings to take place on the days when the temperatures will be a little warmer and the roads traveled well enough to be bare. If I have an appointment scheduled on a day when the weather will make travel less enjoyable, I can pick up a phone and postpone the appointment.

I can choose to spend a stormy day cleaning house in my pajamas, or wearing sweats and sitting in the easy chair to read. I can sit at my kitchen table and admire the diamond like glitter of a light snowfall on a somewhat sunny winter day. Sadly I don't have the camera equipment or the knowledge to capture that phenomenon digitally. However, I do have knowledge enough to capture the beauty of Winter during a heavy, wet snowfall.

By the time it stopped yesterday my backyard had 10 more inches of snow on the ground. 

I may not be someone who throws themselves into the great outdoors and embraces Winter activities with gusto. I'm content to stay inside where it's warm and toast Mother Nature's efforts with a hot cup of coffee, chocolate or tea. Unfortunately for me, it's also a time when I lose the battle with weight gain. 

I was hoping to have a need for a new wardrobe in April. I've admitted to myself that I'm not quite going to make it and have decided to get by with what I have until Fall. I'm also going to work on losing more than 2 pounds a month once I have the 5 pounds I've regained off. That shouldn't be too hard once I quit contemplating Winter out my windows and get back to moving to the beat of my favorite music. Now I need to go find my "Boogie Shoes".