I HATE WINTER!!!
(Hubby would chuckle if he hear me. I usually say that at least once a week in winter.)
So I try to see the bright side:
1. I don't have to water the garden every day in winter.
2. No mosquitoes.
3. Some of my plants are succulents or tender perennials that have to come in, so I still have a garden in winter. AND, I don't have to get out my jammies to water it.
4. I don't have to weed the garden much. (A wayward weed does sneak in on occasion, but once plucked, more don't come.)
5. I like watching the changing colors all year long on trees. Sure, you're thinking autumn colors. Well, that's not the only time they change. Many of the green changes throughout the growing season. First bright green, then darker and darker. Sometime in the end of July to beginning of August (at least here in growing zone 6 -- mid-Atlantic states, if you're not a gardener, but the zones go clear across the world, no just the eastern seaboard states), it's the darkest, as if they're saying "YAY! The world is just right!", but then they lighten up a tad bit. Not brighter. More paler, like they're hinting even before the weather changes that something has changed. And then which trees go first, and which trees turn which colors. Like we have buttonwoods/sycamores. Love the bark! Hate the leaves. I hate the leaves because they die first. And they don't even bother turning pretty before dying. They just go brown and fall off way before all the other trees even think about changing colors. BUT then we have ginkgoes. If you've ever been near a female ginkgo tree, you'd know why we hate them. If you've ever taken the supplement Ginkgo, I bet you'd stop if you ever smelled the fruit of the tree. Smells like dog poop -- the kind right after a meal of beans. And, if you step on one, the smell travels with you, right into your house whether you wiped it off or not! BUT, it all is worth it, because the ginkgo is about the last tree to loose its leaves, and before they lose them they turn yellow. Not dull yellow. Not banana yellow, not mellow yellow, not gold. Honest to goodness Crayola Yellow! Beautiful especially in the evening, because it feels like all the rays of the sun soak into those leaves to give off a lovely shine that seems to last past when the sun sets. AND, did you know in VA, you aren't likely to ever see red leaves on trees in the forest? (You can see red on ornamental trees, but those are the types of trees that are red-leafed all summer too.) Why? No maple trees. My uncle's wife (technically my aunt, but it feels funny calling her aunt, since she's hubby's age and she didn't marry my uncle until they were in their 40's) makes him take her north some autumns, simply because she wants to see red in the trees.
6. I make desserts all year long. Every spring, I'm dying for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and peaches! (In that order too, because that's how the crops come in. lol) Fresh! Not frozen. And local, because they don't taste quite as fresh as the ones shipped here on barges. And I try to make make as many desserts as possible with those ingredients. And then something happens in September. BORING! Then I remember the other side. Cranberries are being picked soon. Pumpkins! Whoa! I miss pumpkin-cranberry muffins. And apples! Sure you can get apples all year now, but the new crop is coming in right about now, and it's subtly better than last year's. Less likely to be soggy or brown in the middle, bigger explosion of tastes, more varieties all just right for certain occasions. Apple brown betty -- a winter dessert! And, because I'm busy all summer keeping up with what's coming in now, I don't make banana nut muffins. I miss banana nut muffins. So I like the variety in seasons.
7. I HATE WINTER! Winter is only four months a year. We're not going into winter now. We're going into autumn. Let's not rush things. Don't you miss your winter clothes? Aren't you tired of your summer clothes? And how about the autumn and spring clothes?
8. No winter, no spring. Spring is the season I look forward to -- brimming with potential. (I figure if you love summer you know that feeling.) How much would we miss that feeling minus suffering through winter?
9. CHRISTMAS! I get to decorate all I want without hubby thinking I'm nuts(ier.) I get to see decorations I don't have room for in summer. (Can't keep the Christmas decorations out or no room for flower bouquets. lol)
10. Winter gives me time to hibernate. I'd like to clean out the front porch, but it's too hot to do in the summer. I'd rather be out in the garden then clean the basement. I have 1001 excuses to avoid big projects in the house. Come winter, I finally have the time.
I hate being cold, but cold is four out of 12 months.