52 days until spring . . . ideas to get you through winter

It’s snowing sideways again. I’m sure that you’ve all had it up to here with snow stories, folks being holed up in airports on their way to other places, and how it costs million dollars an inch to keep New York streets clear. Here in Maine, we’re supposed to be used to it, we all snowmobile to work and have parkas of every color, right? Absolutely, unequivocally wrong.

I hate winter. And I’m a born and raised Mainer. Perhaps in another life, I froze to death or I’m just not meant to live in this kind of cold. Whatever the reason, when it gets to this time of year, January and February, my normally upbeat, optimistic demeanor goes south, and not in the good warm way. I get mean and grumpy, impatient and irritable, selfish and sad. I feel constrained by the layers – long johns, two pairs of socks, turtleneck, sweater, coat, scarf, hat, and mittens. The car doors freeze shut. The walkway to the back door slicks over. The roads and driveway narrows. You can’t see past the snow banks to pull out into traffic. My neck and head constantly ache with the tension from wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm. It takes forever to leave the house. This time of year you can’t just run out for something, donning flip flops to go over to the neighbor’s. It’s not advised to try to travel anywhere without having let the car run for ten minutes. The cold and snow just make things so much more complicated.

Okay, so what do non skiing, forget about ice fishing, winter hating Mainers do? Those with jobs and kids and other things like budgetary constraints who can’t flee the state for warmer climes have to come up with things to entertain and sustain our collective sanities. Here are a few ideas:

Cook winter food– stews, soups, slow cooked meat like roasts and ribs. Search for recipes that keep the oven running a few hours and heat up the kitchen. You’ll find that having something steaming on the stove that you have to stir and taste every half hour does something good to you.

Cook summer food – you could go the opposite route – dig out the grill and take your chances tending to a good steak. Buy some of those expensive hothouse tomatoes, some overpriced fresh basil and some gourmet fresh mozzarella and make a salad that at first bite, tastes like summer. Salsa. Guacamole. Anything that brings summer to mind for you.

Sauna, steam, hot tub – my gym has all of these, but I don’t take the time to use them during much of the year. Now we make an afternoon of it, taking the kids to the pool, lounge around in our bathing suits and sweat while people cross country ski past the windows.

Work out – while you’re at the gym, run or lift or bike or something. Not only can you help ease the effects of the aforementioned cooking, but you’ll work up a sweat and get the blood going to keep you warm on your way to the car.

Read – I read year round, always have a book going. In the winter, though, I tend to migrate towards two types of reading. The first is some kind of self help, mind opening, philosophical something. This is usually triggered by the New Year and hopes of bettering myself and reaching some kind of goal. Last year it was about nutritional healing, in hopes of curing my chronic headaches. The year before, as I was about to move into a new house, Feng Shui. This year it’s about past life regression and then to counteract that, living in the present. The other kind of book I save for winter reading is the sell-everything-and-move-to the-islands kind of book. Caribbean travelogues, RV around the country for a year, move the family to Mexico kind of books – always warm weather destinations that will take me away for just a little while.

Get crafty – the winter is when I crochet blankets. It’s too hot in the summer to think about sitting there with a pile of yarn on my lap, much less actually use what I’ve made. I’d like to learn how to quilt, too.

Craft with the kids – given that you’re not off to the beach or the lake or working in the garden, do something creative with the kids. Last weekend my daughter and I made window cling decorations out of fabric paint. We’ve melted crayons on hot rocks and made paperweights. We’ve tie dyed t shirts. Go over to your local crafts place and see what you find.

Plan the garden – I know I’m not alone on this one. the reason all of the seed companies send out their catalogs early in the new year is for people like me who will pour through them, making lists, designing the garden for this year. I’ll order seeds. I’ll start the seeds inside.  I'll water and tend to the seedlings.  Seeing the growth, smelling the soil, watching for sunlight . . . all reminders that spring will come. 

It’s highly possible that just writing this has been good for me and has given me enough to go on to make it through February. I, too, need to be reminded that just because I can’t – or won’t – go outside in the winter doesn’t mean I have to resign myself to movies and tv (although not such a bad idea at times). So, count the days til spring, or summer for that matter (145), but try to enjoy today – even if you can’t see past the snow banks.