My Favorite Things

Winter has finally arrived here in Ohio. We were near 60* on Monday. I had the windows open, soaking up that fresh air. Today, we struggled to reach 25*. My office has a big two story glass entryway. The windows were covered with thick ice on the inside all day. The ice never melted. It is, in a word, cold. And I love it. Winter is filled with many of my favorite things.

I prefer to be cold rather than hot. You can add layers in winter. In summer, there's only so much you can take off before before crossing decency boundaries. There's so many options for winter. Namely sweaters. You can wear cotton or wool or acrylic blends. Sweaters with three-quarter length sleeves or long sleeves. Cardigans. Pullovers. Turtlenecks, crew necks, and v-necks. Patterned or solid. All available in a rainbow of colors. Lately, my favorites are simple cotton v-neck pullovers. Easy yet warm. They work well alone or layered over a turtleneck or short sleeved shirt. And they look great with jeans. To me, the v-necks seem very flattering. Which of course means I've pretty much bought one in every color. Truly. I have green, purple, blue, brown, and even red and pink!

I like snow. I know some people might want to throw stones at me for saying that. But I really do. Of course, if I'm on the interstate stuck in a three hour traffic jam in the middle of a snowstorm, I'm not really happy. Who would be? But as long as I don't have to go far, or even better- can stay in and not deal with the crazy Ohio drivers, then I love snow. To me one of the prettiest things is seeing white, fluffy snowflakes fall from the sky and cover everything. That beauty is rivaled only by the cardinals playing in my yard and at the feeder, surrounded by snow.

At night, it's wonderful to curl up with a book and a blanket. In my house, if you are curling up in a blanket, you are also curling up with at least one beagle. Once they see that a human is comfortable, they want to be part of it. They are excellent feet warmers! If you're still a little chilly, make yourself a cup of tea. A perfect way to both relax and warm up.

I am a homebody. Sure, I like to travel. I like to go out shopping. When it comes down to it though, I have always been happiest at home. Growing up, I was happiest being allowed to stay in my room to read and listen to music. I like the outdoors; I'm just not an outdoorsy type of person. In winter- you don't feel guilty for staying inside. It's too cold to go out, so it's ok if you spend all weekend inside reading and knitting and napping. In the middle of the summer, though, if you tell someone that's how you spent your weekend, you might get a few odd looks. In winter, it's acceptable.

I cook different foods in winter than I do in summer. The meals are more filling, things that warm you from the inside. I fix a lot of casseroles, Italian dishes, and well, basically, comfort food. Of course, it's easy to forget that in a few months you'll be cursing those foods as you try on the swimsuit. Sweaters are much more forgiving.

Tonight I realized another great thing about winter. We ordered takeout from Bob Evans because the roast beef I had taken out of the freezer was still frozen. When they asked what kind of bread we wanted, they listed cherry bread as an option. I had forgotten how wonderful their cherry bread is! It's a cross between a breakfast bread and a pound cake for dessert. We bought a whole loaf. I was so happy. Yet they don't have the cherry cobbler yet, so I was also a little disappointed. I guess if I want something sweeter than the cherry bread, I'll have to have some of the Graeter's cinnamon ice cream that I stockpiled while it was available in December. Who needs summer?