I totally am with you on that. I was just wondering that after Monday's horrendous Ice/Snow/Wind combo we were smacked with that left me stranded at work. I vowed to move south as soon as it was feasible. (Just like every year.)

luna,

I won't lie, I think Winter is amazing and beautiful in many respects. But, wow, is she ever a harsh mistress!

I lived in North Florida for about 5 years at one point, and they only really seemed to have about three actual seasons: early Fall, Late Spring, and Summer. I found myself missing snow. I do love the four distinct seasons that we have in the Mid-West and they are part of the rhythm I have grown to depend on.

But yes, when it's so cold, I get through it with thoughts of warm sun and ocean waves.

~S

Amongst the grumbling I have to say you make Minnesota sound quite lovely. Unfortunately I haven't been there, but my husband tells me it is stunning in the Spring...which is just around the corner, so hang on....

Not to mention that those long cold winters probably have you retreating to bed earlier than the rest of us...and there may be some fun to be had there.....?

Rob

Rob,

I am certainly a creature of the night, for a variety of reasons, so I don't mind the long nights--though I know they are nothing like in Canada and Northern Europe and other parts farther North or more extremely South.

But I do think Minnesota is really under-rated. We have hot Summers and cold Winters. The changes in Spring and Fall are dramatic and welcome. Yes, one of our towns is consistently the coldest in the USA, but we sure don't have glaciers or permafrost. The cold Winter temperatures scare people, though, and for that reason we get dismissed as tundra when it's not like that at all.

So yes, I do grumble sometimes because the cold hurts. Humans were just not designed to be out in it and it requires one to use lots of precautions.

Snow Bunnies, fuzzy sweaters and furs have a place in what I find erotic as a result. There is something primal in laying in front of a fire for warmth, and certainly a hearth is on a list of things my home must have.

March is more than a little difficult for us emotionally. Seriously. It's one of the snowiest months, but at the same time it's when we start to do seasonal garden planning and garden purchasing and craving sunlight. It's when we start to really look forward to the Earth becoming green and alive again.

I really do like the intense seasons, and it really helps one to understand and to feel the rhythms of time and the significances of the cross-quarter days.

One man's (long and rambling) opinion...

;)

~S

S

I so get the March conundrum. If it is Spring then it should *look* like Spring and *feel* like Spring, but it rarely does. (I used to live in Connecticut.) But then one day, when you least expected it, it happened overnight, and people would take down the tops of their cars, and you didn't need to take your coat, and the trees would blossom and it was a re-birth every time. I do miss that.

I so like that you are a gardener. Me too. A guy that's into gardening, and can write like a poet, and spank like a Dom..... What a lucky girl Flower is.....

Rob

Rob,

Yes, it's exactly like that in the spring. Seems like forever the world is colored brown and smells earthy in the air and then suddenly everything is a vividly green. It's so welcome after what can feel like a shades-of-gray Winter.

I haven't been all that much of a gardener in my adult life, but am gradually changing that. My parents lived on an acre of land and had a very large vegetable garden and flowers everywhere. I did a lot of work for them which I always resented because the neighbor kids were biking or playing ball. My ex wanted nothing to do with touching germs or doing yard work, so for a long time I lived in a complex where the grounds were managed.

But finally, with Flower, I feel like I can put my roots down on so many levels. This I find to be very comforting.

~S