Braving the Cold

I just had a wonderful weekend in the woods, and to my surprise, the most enjoyable parts were spent outdoors.

The wind was blistering and the temperatures dipped to 12 degrees, but we bundled up well and continued to encourage each other... ("I can't feel my toes but this is nice, right?")

And bit by bit we warmed up to our hikes - both physically and mentally. And this might sound lame, but it seemed sort of epic to be out there in the silent woods, with no one else for miles.

Its like that age old question: If a bookworm of a girl excitedly says "This feels like Narnia!" in the middle of the woods, and no one is around to hear it, is she still a nerd?

Then after breathing in fresh air and soaking in sunshine (I know right, sunshine in the winter?!? who knew), the best reward was warming up again with hard earned rest.

A group of my friends once spent a Christmas in Quebec and they marveled at how everyone was outside on Christmas day - playing and walking the streets and, just plain out and about. When they asked about aboot it, the response was along the lines of, "when its cold most of the year, you can't stay indoors that long, you just find ways to adjust."

My cousins who spent time in Norway said the same thing of its inhabitants - whose children have recess ALL YEAR round! Apparently they have a saying there:

  "There's no such thing as bad weather, 

just bad clothing."

Isn't that wonderful?! I think If I were to talk myself into getting out more, I could banish some winter blahs and really enjoy this season in a new way... I think I could adjust to this.