Chillin'

Today I helped our friend Kurt work on the 3-bay equipment shed he has been building over at his place. He has already built most of it -- he just needed an extra set of hands for a few tasks. He is also a forester and knows all kinds of stuff about wood and trees and building stuff. I always learn a ton when I hang out with him.

But it was a beautiful early winter day -- sunny, about 25 degrees, and windy, windy, windy. It is supposed to warm up again a little this week, but winter is almost full bore upon us.

Some people may not like winter that much, but I actually like this time of year a lot. Winter is unambiguous up here. You get snow and a lot of it. You get cold and a lot of it. Not much of that slush/sleet/wet snow/rain stuff. This time of year, the gray, barren leafless trees of fall are replaced by crisp, white snow -- but it is the kind of snow that allows you to go out snow shoeing, or cross country skiing, or to simply work on an equipment shed if you bundle up a bit. Winter can actually be kind of fun up here, especially if you just pretend that it isn't strange to have three and a half feet of snow on the ground.

And there is a relaxed, hibernation vibe to winter --- how much can you actually expect to accomplish when it is 8 below zero? Today for example, I was tired when I got home, not because we worked so incredibly hard, but because we worked hard and our bodies had to work just to be outside for 4 or 5 hours. But it is nice to be tired at the end of the day, and to be inside a warm house, in front of the woodstove with a full belly.

Plus, the holidays are coming up, and everyone is all excited, and it is nice to have wintry weather for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The only time winter gets to me is around the middle of February to the middle of March. That's when I have trouble remembering if the world was ever anything but cold and snow and ice.

But by then, I am already looking forward to spring and the next farm season, and you can notice the days getting longer. And before you know it, you are wondering if the water is warm enough for swimming yet.