I don’t have to listen to leaf blowers and lawn mowers at 6am and the neighbors aren’t mowing lawns every day of the week.
Any time not winter here is allergy season and none of the above helps.
Other than super dry skin, taking 3x the time to leave the house and white knuckle driving every day?
My honest favourite part of winter is 4 fold:
- Christmas season. There’s an overwhelming positive energy in the air. Family, drinks, friends and good food.
- Every thing is quiet, fresh and sterile. It looks amazing after a fresh snow.
- It’s hockey season.
- No yard work. Fuck leaves (and leafs)
A bunch of leaves fell at my place this year after snow was already on the ground. As if raking leaves out of bare grass weren’t bad enough.
Oooh, what about the air getting so dry that my sinuses crack and bleed, seeping blood in a post-nasal drip into my stomach, making me low-level nauseated for months on end! My skin and lips I can moisturize, but not much I can do about my sinuses unless I want to humidify my house to the point where the windows start growing mold. Fun times!
I have to wear so many clothes, just so many clothes. I wear as little as possible in the summer. That’s such a hassle in the winter. And real, closed shoes all the time. Hopefully my wool wildlings will be warm and I can have barefoot winter shoes.
I love getting up in the summer and just throwing on shorts and a t shirt and being ready as opposed to underwear, sox, t shirt, sweatshirt, sweatpants, slippers. I’m a crabby motherfucker all winter long
Sometimes summer is just sundress and go x_x I can see dresses in my closet from here. Most of them are parked there until spring ;_;
Pro tip: study how people of the past dressed. I’ve settled on tight-fitting wool underclothes, a fluffy mid-layer, and a simple ruana cloak ontop. This seems to keep me comfortable at least between 0°C and like -7°C
I’m not as bad about shopping for winter clothes as I used to be. I mostly wear thrift store clothes, but I do have an Aran Crafts knit wool coat that is fairly old fashioned. I got it used on Ebay, but it’s still pretty magical. I need more long, warm skirts, but they can be hard to find in cute colors or designs.
The mosquitoes are dead.
For me, the best part is that it’s over and we’re heading in to summer!
I’m jealous.
Winter:
-10°C outside, sometimes colder; comfy +22°C inside. Sun sets at 1600, but that’s what tea, candles and mood lighting is for. Everything is nice and quiet outside, with an occasional noise of snowplows after it snows.Summer:
30°C outside, 30°C inside (aircon is not common here in older houses). Hotter in the sun in the middle of the sea of asphalt and concrete that is called “city”. Sun sets at 2200 and rises at 0400.When the sun rises it’s like fucking Jurassic Park outside when all the birds wake up and start making noises. And by “birds” I mean not lovely songbirds like blackbirds and skylarks but pidgeons, crows and seagulls (and no, I don’t live by the sea; I live pretty much as far from the sea as one can in my country. The city is overrun with seagulls.). They seemingly love to scream right into the ventilation shafts of apartment buildings.
When the sun sets in summer all the inebriated revellers come out and start making noises including loud and off-note singing, loud laughing and loud inarticulate screaming. Add loud boomboxes to the mix and it’s one hell of a racket.
Also, mosquitos. Lots of mosquitos.
Take a few cold showers, and then the suffering from the ambient cold is just over.
The best part about winter, is that it’s nice inside. In summer, it can get to a point where it isn’t even nice inside anymore.
But also all the downsides of winter outside can be mitigated and navigated. The downsides of summer outside can’t be.
There are humans that hang out outside at -70C all day. For all you F users, that is -94F. The coldest winter ever gets where I am is -40C(also -40F for F people), it’s usually only about -20C(-4F) on an average cold day in winter.
If you are too cold in winter, you aren’t dressed right. There are options available that you haven’t taken.
You can always add more layers of clothing, you can only take off so much before you get arrested.
Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær.
That’s a popular saying among Scandinavians on the theme. Translated: There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.
cries in SAD
The thing I dislike the most is not directly the cold, but it is the feeling that nobody is outside just for the sake of it and nobody is enjoying it. Like, when summer comes everything feels alive. Not just the nature but people, hiking, walking, doing picnics, hanging our, eating ice cream etc. People outside look like they’re enjoying life. But during winter? Fuck no. And everyone looks the same, oh look 10 people in thick as balls black / grey / dark winter coats who look like round blobs. A bit of a hyperbole but that’s how I always feel like.
And the darkness sucks. Fun to go to down when it is pitch black and it is again pitch black when you get back home.
I wish it set at 5pm… 4:25pm here and it’s not even December!
That said, I honestly don’t mind winter. You can always add layers, but heat and humidity are just plain miserable. Plus I think it’s much more pleasant to come inside to a warm house after being out in the cold than it is to come into an air conditioned house from the heat. The former actively feels cozy and relaxing while the latter just feels like relief.
IMO summer and winter are just the price you have to pay to really appreciate those fleeting perfect weeks in the spring and fall.
Returning home after work, hands freezing as they touch the cold metal doorknob. Turning on lamps, lighting candles, making a lovingly tender and warm cup of coffee, snuggling up with a pet and a partner on a couch, cozy under the various old blankets you’ve collected over the years, and playing Stardew Valley, Skyrim, or any other comfort game together.
Grab some warm stew or curry, throw on a well-loved hoodie, and enjoy the security and hospitality you give yourself and your family.
Warm pie and cookies for dessert, and a book to sip on and savor.
And still being chilled to the bone hours after all this.
It creates such a calming atmosphere. The grey sky during the day, the darkness setting earlier and the white sky far into the evening when it’s snowing is so therapeutic for me for some reason. It gets me in a state where it’s enough just to be alive.
And the biting cold is such a pleasant sensation, especially when going for a run. And there are no mosquitos. Winter is all I like manfested in nature.
a funny thing i’ve realized is that a big part of the reason for the calm atmosphere is that cars are slowed down and their incessant noise is absorbed by the snow.
Winter is great because it makes urban areas more less hostile.
Not having to tear my own skin and the AC running at -20C in order to feel comfortable.
I love the winter, thank you very much ☺️.
