On the other hand, hubby’s glass is always half full so he tried to bring me out of my slump with comments about the good side of a snowstorm. That’s when a thought hit me, sure the negatives outweigh the positives, but there are some good points to snow, you just have to dig deep to find them...... So today I’ll write about the positives of winter, surely there are a few.....let me see what I come up with.
So......I guess I can lead with the forced day off aspect. I work a lot, it should be appreciated. It’s like being a kid and hearing that school’s canceled right? How can this be a hardship? So there’s a check for the positive side. So what else?
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A big white page, like what I see out the window. That’s all I have, I’ll ask hubby for a bit of help.
No surprise, Mr. Positive was quick to contribute, as if he’d been stoking the fire compiling the list before I asked him for it....must be nice to be a ‘be happy, don’t worry’ kind of person, too bad it wouldn’t rub off on me! I couldn't believe what spewed out of his mouth after five seconds of thought. “The exercise of shoveling, being forced to kick back and relax, sleep in, time to cook a special meal, read, nap on the sofa with the pups, nothing to rush towards, sit and savour a cup of coffee.” Whoa, slow down big boy, all that off the top of your head? Impressive!
I will admit I’ve noticed how warm the floors are lately. I guess that’s a big positive. The outside walls in the front part of our house always feel chilled as cold wind seeps into the cracks of the granite rocks and works its way up through the floor boards. The house is over 140 years old and sits on a granite foundation and we sometimes find snow in the basement as the wind sweeps the white powder through the cracks and crannies, bringing with it the cold. The front door area is always chilled but now I can walk on the wood floors in my sock feet and not need slippers. The house also heats faster when insulted by a wall of snow. The entire perimeter of the house is buried in three feet or more of the stuff, like fitting the house with a big leg warmer. So there’s savings on the electric bill. A huge positive for sure!
Hubby is home now so he’s been digging out and hauling firewood so today we’ll have a nice cozy fire to snuggle around and if the power goes out, we can cook on it, keep our coffee warm and be mesmerized by the flickering flame, all positive.
Snow storms afford a bit of “oh look” moments from wind swept, sculpted landscapes. Fantastic drifts that take on recognizable shapes, like lying on your back cloud watching. Every window frames artistic impressions of nature. Beauty is a positive so another check.
Henri sure loves the snow. He’s a cream boy and without his plaid jacket he might get lost as he runs and climbs to the top of white mountains in our back yard. He stops and looks as if to say, “Look at me mom, I’m the king of the castle!” He makes me laugh. Laughter is good, sometimes referred to as the best medicine. Laughing on a crappy weather day can only serve as a positive.
I’ve been outside more this winter than most, it’s healthy to breath in the fresh, crisp air. I've put in my share of shoveling and even with hubby home I've shifted a few tons of the stuff. Who needs a gym when there’s a yard full of natural work out material. Its good clean labour and I feel exhilarated when I come back inside. My face is pink, not the normal rosacea colour, I look and feel like a youngster, that’s rarely said at this age so chalk it up as another positive.
Another part of a stormy day is to listen to the dulcet tones of the impending Snowmageden on the weather channel. I don’t know why we let it play on after we've watched our area’s forecast. The monotonous score runs in a continuous loop and then you realize it’s been playing for an hour, droning on like Merry-go-round music. Golly, that one sounds like a negative. Maybe I've scraped the bottom of the barrel and that’s all there is.
There are pros and cons that's a given but after all is said and done the biggest positive of winter is........any day above ground, no matter what is piled on top of it, is friggin fabulous!