Winter wonder what?
January 6, 2008
Winter. The time of the year that boasts roughly 3-6 months of "not scalding hot" temperatures. Everything is dead, dreary, dark, dank and other adjectives starting with D. For people who really can't take it, there's Florida. But why do us northerners, for one reason or another, choose to stay here despite all the suffering?
I read a blurb on npr.com from the author Eric Weiner who finds that it's not necessarily sun and warmth that make life better:
"Theories abound as to why cold or temperate climes produce happier people than warm, tropical ones. My favorite theory is one I call the Get-Along-or-Die Theory. In warm places, this theory states, life is too easy; your next meal simply falls from a coconut tree. Cooperation with others is optional. In colder places, though, cooperation is mandatory. Everyone must work together to ensure a good harvest or a hearty haul of cod. Or everyone dies. Together." -The Geography of Bliss
Everyone knows someone who's "escaped" to a warm paradise in the south. Hello Atlanta, St. Augustine, Austin. Endless sun or beaches, what could possibly be wrong? But some of them come back, despite their hatred of winter because it's just such a different place down there. I've heard the complaints of excruciatingly slow service, nonchalant attitudes and miserable heat. Here you have to hurry to your next location to stay warm/alive. And in our hurry, it seems we get more accomplished and make progress more quickly. People have a cold attitude towards each other in the north? Sure, but once someone has warmed up to you, you've found yourself more than a fair weather friend.
[ --warning: blog has reached weekly limit of journalistic puns-- ]
To Ohioans, summer is a precious far off dream where it becomes paradise for days...many days in a row, during 2 months of the year. Maybe we prefer the anticipation of change to the monotony of "fair and mid 60s expected for the next 57 days". I for one am finally beginning to appreciate the change of seasons. Having them at all is more of a blessing than a curse because each one brings such variety. We get to experience the smells of ice, damp earth, flowers, crunchy leaves. If I had to trade that for 365 days of seasalt and fish, or baking sand?...no thanks.
Patience will pull us through, but winter is what we have to deal with in the meantime. Captured in the following photos are temporary acts of beauty, that can only truly be appreciated by us notherners who know and live winter here every year. Perhaps you can find solace in the fact that they are, by nature, only fleeting acts of nature. Enjoy and try to stay warm, it's only for a few months more!
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for some reason, here it gets incredibly hot AND incredibly cold. truly, we have found hell on earth.
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every night when i walk to my car after work i yell WHY DO I LIVE HERE to myself.
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Take it from someone who had to live in the south for 2 and a half years. . .There's definetly a reason we deal with the snow and cold. I definetly agree with the Get-along-or-die theory. If you want proof, go to savannah (aka SLOW-vannah).
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shut up
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Ha ha! Get-Along-or-Die! Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
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We have had it fairly good this winter. NH has had a record 44 inches of snow this year. F* that. lol :)
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it's in been in the 60s for the past few days. nature is trying to make you look bad.
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