Eyes that see the good in things: Feb. 4, 2019

Winter has finally decided to show up, hasn’t it? Just when I had lulled myself into believing that we might miss out on our typical North Dakota winter, Mother Nature decided to make things a little more interesting. This week’s snow, blizzard and bitter cold has reminded us that North Dakota winters are not to be taken lightly. The upside to this story is that January is now behind us and we really only have February and March to get through. Winter is definitely the toughest time of year for me, the cold keeps me inside so I decided to ask a couple of my winter-loving friends what they do that makes them love winter. Their answers were so different that I decided it really is in the eye of the beholder.

The first says that winter is her chance to slow things down a little. She no longer has kids at home, and she uses the winter months to hibernate and finds joy and comfort in the cold days or winter. These are some of her tips:

• Enjoy hot drinks. Use winter as an excuse to experiment with recipes for hot chocolate and find ways to dress up your coffee and tea. Invest in a good, warm pair of slippers and maybe a thick, cozy robe to lounge in while you drink your hot drinks.

• Use your slow cooker to do more home cooking. She uses winter as a time to use the food that is already in her pantry and freezer and makes nutritious soups and stews to build her immune system and help stave off winter colds and flu. Then, she almost always has leftovers that she can freeze and use on a day when schedules are a little tighter and she needs a healthy convenience food.

• She says she embraces winter by enjoying the cozy home time. She stocks up on good books, recommends a fire in the fireplace, warm socks, a lap quilt and another hot drink. If you are really a cold hater, she recommends that you consider a hot water bottle, or make rice or wheat bags that you can warm in the microwave to get rid of those cold feet.

• She stays in contact with people by bringing them to her. She likes to invite people to play games at her house and holds great football watching parties.

• Using the extra time in the house to finish a project is important to her. She cleans closets, cabinets and does scrapbooking during the winter months, which gives her a feeling of satisfaction when she gets projects done that she’s been putting off for a while.

Another winter loving friend enjoys winter in a totally different way. She loves to be out and about during the winter months, only letting blizzards and extremely bitter temperatures keep her inside. She has some winter tips that are totally different.

• She says it’s important to beat the winter blues before they hit you by getting out and about, despite the colder temperatures. Her first piece of advice is to find a pair of snow boots you love and to invest in some good, warm winter clothing. She shops at the sporting goods stores to purchase warm socks, boots, and Under Armour before she even thinks about her coat, cap and gloves. The warm clothes are the difference between hating the outdoors and having fun in it, she tells me.

• Refusing to stay inside all winter is important to her and she makes it a point to bundle up and get outside every day and not just to go to work! It doesn’t have to be to enjoy winter sports outside, although she loves winter for cross country skiing, snowmobiling and sledding with the kids. She says that winter is a good time to enjoy malls, museums and other attractions because there are fewer people visiting them in the winter.

• When she first started making it a point to get out every day, she made a pact with a few friends that they would do something together weekly, which made the winter go by much more quickly.

• She makes it a point to try new things in the winter. She loves to ski but is interested in learning to snowboard. She recommends cross-country skiing and learning to snowshoe. She also enjoys ice fishing with her husband. She’s the friend who decorated her trees with food for the birds and built snow sculptures and igloos with her kids. Keeping active is important for her, as the exercise lifts her mood and chases those winter doldrums away.

• Seek out that sun! That was one of the pieces of advice that she was most adamant about. The longer periods of darkness in the winter can make winter depressing, so she says it’s important for her to get out in the sun, closing her eyes and facing the sun for as long as she can.

• Remember that the snow and ice can be dangerous, both on foot and on the road. She stresses good footwear to keep from slipping but also stresses how important safety on the road is. Recovering from injuries and being on crutches in the winter is doubly hard in the winter, as she has experienced.

The last of my three winter-loving friends says that she uses winter to:

• Enjoy a book club or take a class. She drives over an hour each way to take her adult education classes, but over the years she has enjoyed classes on cake decorating, photography, computer literacy, international cooking and exercise. She’s also taken a few college courses. The classes help her to stay in contact with other people, which is important to her in the winter. It also keeps her mind active when she says it’s so easy to sit in front of the television. Because she spends extra time on the roads in the winter, she makes sure her vehicle is stocked with winter weather essentials.

• She keeps the temperature in her house a little cooler than most people do as she finds it better for sleeping, but she says her programmable thermostat makes it so that she doesn’t have to freeze when she climbs out of bed in the morning to hop in the shower. She also says the cooler temperatures help keep her skin from drying as easily.

• She makes it a point to take care of herself in the winter, tries to avoid illness and to stay healthy. Nothing drags out the winter like always fighting a cold or coming down with the flu. She eats lots of fruits and vegetables, drinks plenty of water, washes her hands frequently and schedules her wellness appointments in the winter.

• When she finishes with her wellness appointments, she schedules a day at the spa where she gets relaxing massages and rejuvenating skin treatments.

• That’s when she is ready for the best part. She takes her vacation in the winter and always goes somewhere warm, but she uses the coldest, most wintery days to plan her sun-filled vacation. It’s a way for her to break up the winter and have things to look forward to.

These three winter-loving people all enjoy winter for different reasons, but they all have some good advice for winter complainers, like me.

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing.

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