Wintertime!
Oct. 25th, 2009 10:13 amWe set our alarms to nine this morning. After cuddling and reading in bed, having a luxurious breakfast, and slowly booting up the pc's, I sat down for my e-mail. I looked at the clock, and it was only 9:15.
Ah, yes. Wintertime has kicked in.
I don't get wintertime! I understand how, when it was first thought of, it was economically sound to use less energy. In a way, it still is. But why shift the time around two times a year?
In the mornings when I grab my bicycle, it's dark. The days grow shorter, and winter solstice is only two months away, iirc. I notice these things more when I am outside for longer periods. It'll still be dark when I go outside in the morning, even with wintertime. Maybe not today, but soon enough. People will still get depressed in January, when the Christmas lights are taken down, and February, when the brunt of winter hits us. We'll start feeling better again in March and April when the first flowers will appear and the trees will start to grow their new leaves.
I must admit, I love winter. We sleep with the window open, leaving a crisp cold to enter the bedroom, and the blankets are always terribly snuggly and warm. Hmmm, hibernation.
I love ice skating, and the tang of frost in the morning air as I go to work makes me hope that we'll be able to ice skate again this year. I bought skates last year, but didn't get to use them because by the time they'd arrived the weather had turned. Ice skating is in the Dutchman's blood, it's often said. I know there are numerous paintings by Dutch masters of people skating from centuries ago.
I love wrapping my cold hands around a mug of hot cocoa. I love it even more after exercising in the cold. It always clears my sinuses!
In any case, let's skip the virtues of runny noses for a moment (oh, just one more visual: going to the sauna when it's freezing! There's nothing like your skin giving off steam in the freezing cold...).
Ahem.
So wintertime! I don't get it much. We can all decide to conserve energy by wearing a sweater when we're cold, and turning on the lights a little later than usual. We don't need to uproot our entire living pattern and sleeping pattern by setting the clock an hour earlier.
(Damn, now I want to go to the sauna!)
Ah, yes. Wintertime has kicked in.
I don't get wintertime! I understand how, when it was first thought of, it was economically sound to use less energy. In a way, it still is. But why shift the time around two times a year?
In the mornings when I grab my bicycle, it's dark. The days grow shorter, and winter solstice is only two months away, iirc. I notice these things more when I am outside for longer periods. It'll still be dark when I go outside in the morning, even with wintertime. Maybe not today, but soon enough. People will still get depressed in January, when the Christmas lights are taken down, and February, when the brunt of winter hits us. We'll start feeling better again in March and April when the first flowers will appear and the trees will start to grow their new leaves.
I must admit, I love winter. We sleep with the window open, leaving a crisp cold to enter the bedroom, and the blankets are always terribly snuggly and warm. Hmmm, hibernation.
I love ice skating, and the tang of frost in the morning air as I go to work makes me hope that we'll be able to ice skate again this year. I bought skates last year, but didn't get to use them because by the time they'd arrived the weather had turned. Ice skating is in the Dutchman's blood, it's often said. I know there are numerous paintings by Dutch masters of people skating from centuries ago.
I love wrapping my cold hands around a mug of hot cocoa. I love it even more after exercising in the cold. It always clears my sinuses!
In any case, let's skip the virtues of runny noses for a moment (oh, just one more visual: going to the sauna when it's freezing! There's nothing like your skin giving off steam in the freezing cold...).
Ahem.
So wintertime! I don't get it much. We can all decide to conserve energy by wearing a sweater when we're cold, and turning on the lights a little later than usual. We don't need to uproot our entire living pattern and sleeping pattern by setting the clock an hour earlier.
(Damn, now I want to go to the sauna!)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-25 09:58 am (UTC)I like winter just like I love souterrains: Iḿ more comfortable in the dark, more cozy under a blanket.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 08:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 03:31 pm (UTC)I love winter too, but only if its a real winter, whith frost and snow. Sadly we usually just have a second autumn.