So we've almost suffered through the whole winter. What's the point of writing a lamentation over the month of February, when spring is just around the corner? I'll tell you why: Spring is still further away than anyone of us wants to admit. And it's exactly the suffering that we - or at least I - cannot stand any longer.
Let's back up a little bit and start with the month of November. The month when most people complain because we have left summer behind with long, bright days and replaced it with a gloomy and grey existence. Ok, I get it, it's not so fun being robbed of one hour of daylight, especially when the days are already getting much shorter. The loss of color is also quite depressing; all the leaves have fallen off the trees, just lying there on the ground waiting to rot away. Nevertheless, the memory of summer is still close to heart and it usually takes a couple of weeks before you have gotten used to the darkness. I mean, we all know winter is coming, so buckle up. If you start complaining in November already, you don't stand a chance of surviving the winter.
December. It never fails. This is the month when I have the least amount of energy. However, I accept it and I try to do the best of the situation. I work less, take a couple of vacation days, sleep more... usually it just works out anyway. The weather is boring, but I'd rather take 0 degrees Celsius and rain than -10 degrees and snow, because it allows me to keep up with my running routine.
January. After a drowsy and quiet month things start happening again. I work more, I get out more, the days are starting to become somewhat longer. What happens is I get quite caught up in the daily routines, so I kind of forget that we are still stuck in the middle of winter. Additionally, and this is the major flaw, I start looking forward to spring, as if it was just around the corner. Granted, it's closer than it was in November, but again, summer is closer to November anyway, so that's not really an argument.
February. Backlash. Here come the cold weather, the snow and the ice. Sure, we get plenty of daylight and sun, which is awesome, but who has the energy to spend the whole day outdoors when it's -15 degrees with icy winds? It looks great when you're inside, the snow so sparkling and white and the sky so blue, but once you get out there you just want to get back inside. With ice and snow come so many problems. The door to your car won't unlock because the lock is frozen. Once you get it open, the doors won't open because they're frozen stuck. When you have finally broken in to your own car, it won't start because the battery is dead. If, for some reason, you manage to get past all of this, you still have to scrape ice from the windshield, outside AND inside. But wait, there's more! When running, you have to check every step closely because the sidewalks are all icy and slippery. You have to use muscles you didn't know existed to stop yourself from falling. The icy wind hits your face, which cracks because of the cold and dry air. No matter how much lotion you put on it feels too tight and it gets all red and itchy. On top of that you scratch your poor dry eyes so much that you get an eye infection, which makes you look like count Dracula for weeks. That's real nice when you have to look presentable for classes every day. On top of all this, your plants die one by one (it is also very possibe they committ suicide) because they've just had enough of the cold, dry air and the lack of sunshine in November, December and January. There's really nothing conciliatory about the month of February, not even the fact that is closer to March, which is closer to April, which is supposed to be the first (or second?) month of spring. All I want to do every February is to get away to a warmer climate and feel like a human being again. Maybe that's why this particular February feels so terrible, because I can't do that. None of us can do that, really. There's NO EXIT.
Ok, I'll admit it: I'm a bit of a drama queen when it comes to winter. But we have endured so much and spring feels so close, yet we know that it is still so far away. And even if it should happen that we get a few days that feel like spring, March will pop out its ugly head and let us know that winter is far from over. All I ask of my family and friends is this: let me hate winter. No matter how much YOU love winter and post gorgeous pictures on social media, it will not change the fact that I detest this season. I dislike snow and ice (except for on a rink of course), I'm not too fond of temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius and my organism simply was not made for the dry air indoors.
Maybe I'll get a humidifier. At least that's something.
Beautiful but treacherous
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