ode to winter.

I love winter. While I was in Hawaii for work a few weeks ago and after having gotten used to waking up to warm breezes and days in the eighties I was slightly afraid I would miss it coming back to Seattle. And I did, but only for a little while. I have now adjusted back to what is normal at this time of year for anywhere I would want to live (the requisite need being a change of seasons) – cold. And today, while biking around town with Julian as the fog settled in from a sort of warm day cooling off rapidly and the kind of light that is only had on perfect late autumn or early winter afternoons as the sun dropped below the horizon and everything shone pale. And back inside, warming up under a few layers about to relax on the couch to read a bit of a book before dinner (just put in the oven, the dryer going in the background on the last load of laundry) I am reminded of what I love about this time of year.

I love layers. I try to fake it during the summer but cannot really. But now I can layer away, usually three if it's a good day.

I love scarves. Ever since seeing the remake of Alfie a couple of years ago I have loved scarves. And my sister Kathy somehow perceived this without knowing it by surprising me with my first wool scarf right after that. Now I own several, and they are all my favourite.

I love sweaters. Particularly really thick cable knit wool sweaters that fit really well and have super long sleeves that hang over my hands. Love those. But just about any v-neck sweater will do (argyle is always a classic), layered over one or two shirts of course one typically being a button-down.

I love peacoats. Preferably wool. Black. Of which I own one and cherish walking around frigid winter nights hands in pockets scarf around neck iPod headphones in ears thinking and looking into coffee shops and wine bars and restaurants at people warm inside laughing over food or drinks while I walk by outside.

I love socks. Especially warm Smartwool socks that are had for a great deal after standing in line forever at a sample sale last week stocking up for the coming season.

I love warm drinks. I could never do anything coffee cold, so during the summer I definitely do not drink as much coffee. But this winter I plan on really getting some mileage from my espresso machine, making all sorts of espresso drinks along with mugs of hot chocolate (I saw in the Williams-Sonoma catalog today this super fancy hot chocolate that I will have to get for Kathy but try first for myself). They even have sixteen dollar marshmallows – those have got to be amazing for that price! But I like holding hot mugs with both hands (wearing a scarf – I do not try to pull this look off at the office but can get away with it at home) while it steams away too hot to drink for a few minutes first.

I love being cozy. This means that while it is cold outside I am warm inside. I like wrapping up in layers and a blanket on the couch and reading. Granted, it's perfect reading on the couch in the summer windows open breezes coming through the house but something different entirely in the context of winter. Or watching a movie. Or cooking and baking away in the kitchen. For some reason, it is neater mixing something up and baking it during the winter I don't know why but maybe because then after it is done I can leave the oven door open and sit on my kitchen countertops with a book and a mug of hot espresso and read wearing a scarf and three layers. No blanket. Part of this, too is waking up on cold mornings completely wrapped in down the furnace just kicking on to warm up the house and there's a certain smell of it in the air.

I love snow. Especially the first snow on Rainier, which I always look for with as much earnest as I do for the rising of Orion in the east. We don't get nearly enough down at sea level in Seattle, but yes it is never more than an hour's drive away in the Cascades. But still, it is extra special when we beat the odds and it does snow down here and I can walk around in it while it's coming down and after either way and just marvel at the brightness of it and the freshness of everything. And of course I'll go to the mountains, more so this winter with my truck to snowshoe and maybe learn to cross-country ski but to just get out in it all and see the mountains I love under a completely different scene.

I love quiet. And for some reason winter just seems quieter. I think maybe because people tend to hibernate, but there's that half hour before sunset on clear days when the pale light is everywhere and the world seems to hush. And the quiet and stillness of course after the first snow.

I love Orion. And here in the northern hemisphere Orion is visible in the evening from October to early January, thus being synonymous with winter.

I love the holidays. Not necessarily for any particular religious slant but more so because all of humanity takes on a more eloquent existence where we are generally happier and there is a certain lightness to the air. And the holidays just wouldn't work in a climate where it was warm. All the above have to be true (or at least a possibility) for it to seem like the holidays for me.

I love running. Especially in the cold, when you start off cold and work up your own warmth so halfway into it despite it being freezing you are rolling up sleeves and feeling warm.

I love cold. I suppose this is one of the many reasons I love the mountains. I enjoyed the warmth in Hawaii and of basking under the sun by lakes far away deep in the Sierras under granite towers but cold is invigorating and inspirational to me.

I love certain music. That only works in the winter. Do not try to guess why but it includes a good bit of Loreena McKennitt and Enigma.

I think that mostly covers it. Just a diversion from other loftier thoughts.