on the merits of winter

An early Sunday morning several weeks ago we had our "first-frost" of this year (an event at my house) I took my boys outside, booted but shirtless; we stood warming in the sun in the midst of the cold and breathed out “smoke” and stood quietly and still while watching the sunlight steam frost off of green garden fencing and chicken shed roofs. I told my boys that the first "first-frost" I remember was on my birthday, and on a Sunday as well, and I recollect being so amazed at the brightness and stillness of the air, piercing my cheeks as I made quick, giant steps through the breaking grass to stay next to my daddy while checking on cattle before church. It seemed to me the most extravagant Birthday present from a most benevolent Creator that I could not have even imagined.


At the risk of being over-prosy or even waxing poetic, I would like to write a little about why I disagree with people who dislike Winter. I wonder if it is a privilege of our modern times to view Winter as merely an inconvenience to our daily and uninterrupted lives; where we must go from a climate controlled house to climate controlled car that was maybe 10 or 20 degrees cooler than we would prefer it, at first anyway, because our attached garage has no climate control. Then, on top of that, we must suffer through listening to the crunch of our climate controlled 4 wheel drive vehicles drive over the 1/2” snow that the road grader left on the streets. As if all of that wasn't enough, we have to suffer the indignity of being stuck in our climate controlled homes after 5:30, when it gets dark; thereby missing our golf games, so we happily plop in front of the glowing image box and watch whatever those more intelligent folks 1500 miles away decided last season that would be good and appropriate for us to see this winter.


Maybe I have it all wrong, maybe I am the one benefiting from our technology enabling me to enjoy winter. But the thing that I enjoy about it isn't the comfort or the discomfort (Wife claims that I am impervious to both) but that it is a whole different lifestyle. It is one that requires forethought, planning, preparation. This I enjoy; it is a challenge, Winter tests the mettle of which I am made, and it exhilarates me to rise to that challenge. Animals need special care in the winter. Double check tires on vehicles, got lots of tread left? What do I have to put in the back of my truck for weight, and how will I get it in there? We heat with 99% wood heat; in order to do it well, I have to plan for next winter this year. Often it is dark by the time I get home, if I don't spend my weekend productively, I bring firewood into the house in the dark. Also, I plan what projects I will do to keep me occupied in the long inside evenings.


It isn't that I am opposed to climate control in homes (I have AC) or am opposed to 4-wheel drive vehicles (I own 2) or that I hate golf (would love to learn), it is just that it seems a little petty (in our world without TB, Measles, Polio, where we have EASY access to antibiotics, and virtually unlimited clean hot and cold water at our fingertips) to complain about the cold when little more than 100 years ago, the majority of people were either hand cutting their own firewood or dragging coal through their house in order to keep just part of their homes warm. It wasn't just an inconvenience, it was an complete and utter lifestyle change; not that they enjoyed it any more than those today that dislike it, but at least they had a legitimate reason for disliking it.

But think of it- hasn't it been a long, long time since a country with a Mediterranean climate was truly a "world power"? Doesn't it seem that the northern countries (except for Canada, who we are hard pressed to think of at all) have historically proven their worth by their industriousness? I remember reading in my world geography book that so many tropical countries suffer from a term I think they referred to as "Sustenance Affluence Living"; where the climate was so good, that living was so easy with fresh fruit all year around, that there was not much need for work to stay alive, and so in these modern times, without much industry, their main source of financial income for the whole country is remittances from ex-pat emigres.

Not that most people care about what I like, but I love the initial relief that comes with October and November. It's as if I just can't absorb enough cold-ness into me even though I will get chilled, I still hunger for it after dry July, and moist August, when I can never truly dry off, then sneezy September. I love it when working hard and losing track of time, looking up into the steel-grey sky where there is no sign of sun, and realizing you have no way of telling by sun or by temperature whether it is morning or afternoon. It thrills my blood to feel the tension in the sky, heavy, low and near bursting with icy moisture and arctic air sent down, again, to test that mettle of which I am made. It is one of man's oldest adversaries, Man vs. Nature. Nature isn't our mother, benevolent and kind; it is a wild and powerful force and is to be reckoned with.

I enjoy counting 5 gallon containers of gas, figuring how long I could run the generator to sustain my house without any electricity like we did 2 years ago after the ice storm. I enjoy the opportunity to feel like a producer rather than just a consumer as I am told I am by the television and textbooks. I heartily enjoy literally bringing home the bacon, not just that I earned, but that I raised! I enjoy butchering chickens, raising food in my garden, more than enough for us; in a good year, more than my neighbors want; feed it to the pigs! Turn it into bacon! I enjoy directly providing heat for my home; I feel like I am winning when Wife is uncomfortably warm in our house and it is 5 degrees outside, never mind that I am miserably hot! These things that I was indirectly taught that men are to do: provide food and shelter for family, I enjoy doing them to excess. My wife gets frustrated at the volume of meat we accumulate sometimes, that is not a bad problem to have, as I see it. We've never throw it away yet! I enjoy the thought of driving on icy roads, of beating the snowplow on the way to town, or best of all, being stuck and stranded at home without power after all my best efforts to get out, stuck where I most like to be, with the people I most like to be with.

But anyway, all I'm trying to say to you winter haters, is this: It is a challenge, but an exhilarating one! Here's hoping this winter is a nasty one!