Cozy: A Plan for Enjoying Winter
I love playdates and picnics at the park.
I love inflating our little pool in our backyard and
watching the kids splash each other and eat popsicles.
I love late evenings when the sun sets after the kids go to
bed, and I can sit on the deck and watch the moon appear.
I love watching the leaves turn colors in the fall and
visiting the apple orchards and pumpkin farms.
I love the blur of Christmastime.
But then there is January and February, the dead of winter,
when the branches are bare and the ground frozen and it stays cold and
sometimes gray and gets dark around five p.m.
Winter is my least favorite season.
A few months ago I read an interesting article about northern Norway, where the residents are noteworthy for how little seasonal depression
they experience and how they make the most of their winter months. A phrase in that article struck me,
describing how we in America by contrast, sometimes “bond by complaining about
the winter.”
Yes, that would be me.
I complain about the dark, complain about the cold, complain about the
gray, complain in a winter like this one when there is little snow, but also
complained last year when snow cancelled my plans. Complaint about the weather can be my status
quo and my way of making small talk and connecting with people: “It is so cold today! How are you?”
This winter I’m wanting to change that, and if you’re
laughing at me right now because you know me and you’ve heard me complain about
the weather in the last week—okay, I’m definitely a work in progress here. But this winter I’m brainstorming for ideas of
what I can love about the winter, centering around the key word:
Cozy.
Because I love being cozy, and winter is definitely the
coziest season of all. So here’s a
beginning of what I love about winter:
The Quiet Rhythm
Other seasons are busy with vacations, yardwork, outdoor
projects. The kids swim and play outside
and need showers almost every day. The
mess and activity and hours of sunshine is fun, but a bit tiring.
January and February settle into a quiet rhythm of school
routines and indoor projects. I love
being home, staying inside, keeping clean, getting things done together. The long nights encourage more sleep (though
we don’t always do that!).
Winter is a time to hunker down and enjoy what we have. It’s a working rest, the exhalation of the
year.
Cooking and Baking
Our kitchen is on a cold edge of our house where I feel the
chill in the mornings—until the stove, oven, and crockpot are all going, and
then it’s nice and toasty. In the summer
I’m often casting about for menu options, but in the winter time I love cooking
hot soups, baking pizzas or muffins, and preparing dinners in the crockpot.
Hot Chocolate
Making homemade hot chocolate is one of the ways our kids
especially celebrate wintertime. (Well,
to clarify, I make it, they drink it.) I
use an immersion blender to quickly blend milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, and
maple syrup over the stove. Sometimes I
add other ingredients like a drop of peppermint oil, a drop of orange oil,
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, or salt. It’s
delicious and ready in a minute.
Hot Tea
I’ve already blogged about how much I love my new
teapot. Drinking hot tea throughout the
day is so healthy and relaxing.
Books, Movies, and Blankets
I’m an introvert, and some of my favorite moments of life
are when I’m curled up under a blanket enjoying a good book—or reading one
aloud to our kids. I also love cozying up
under a blanket with my family to watch a good show or movie. A blanket (or two or three) on every couch is
a must.
Right now I’m enjoying For
the Love by Jen Hatmaker. I’m
reading aloud Treasures of the Snow by
Patricia M. St. John to my kids. And in
the evenings Ben and I are discovering the show Arrow.
Candlelight
My sister Anna gave me a beautiful fir-scented candle for my
birthday, and when I burned it out in a week or two, I decided that purchasing
a few more was a good investment.
Everything looks beautiful in candlelight. And the scent is … well, in a word, cozy.
I realize the main reason I can enjoy winter is that I am
privileged. I have a warm house, warm
food, and warm clothes. If I’m uncomfortable, I change the thermostat and set a
kettle of water on to boil. I don’t
worry my kids will catch hypothermia in the night or wonder if hot water will
flow from the faucet in the morning. I
know not everyone enjoys my privilege, and I want to help those who don’t.
And I also realize that no matter what the season, the true
reason I experience joy is because of spiritual
blessings like the ones listed in Ephesians 1: God took great pleasure in
adopting me, redeeming me from sin, and letting me in on His plans. These spiritual blessings far outweigh
anything material I am enjoying in the moment.
Every season, like I tell my kids, has things we love, and
other things … not so much. I’m grateful
for the differences we can enjoy, and also for the truth that stays the same
all year.
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