Trying to find something I like about winter....

As a kid, I don't really remember caring much about the difference between seasons. Heck, as a college student (except for my senior year, when I worked for the college) I didn't really like the summers, because I spent them living with the 'rents and temping for an insurance company, and looked forward to going back to being away, and drunk. But now that I'm an adult, with a house and a commute, I find myself hating the cold weather.

Some of the reasons I don't like winter have less to do with the weather and more to do with external factors - for example, I work for a college, so parking is way easier in the summer when there aren't a ton of students around, and things are slower and more relaxed in general.

But a lot of the things are directly related to the cold. I like to drive with my windows down, and that doesn't work when it's 20 out. I hate having to bring an extra change of clothes to the gym. I can't stand how my hands get chapped and bleed when it's cold out, or how my allergies go nuts from indoor dust, or how the static electricty builds in my house to the point where I've rebooted my Logitech Harmony remote by touching it and causing an electric shock. I don't like scraping frost off my truck, or having to wait for the to get warm enough for the heat to work.

So by now, if you are still reading this incoherent rant, you are probably wondering about the something I like part in the title. Well, a few days ago I opened up a can of Trader Joe's Winter Blend coffee - a seasonal coffee that they make with chunks of clove, cinnamon, and peppercorn. It tastes really good, and it smells even better. Something about breathing in the smell, especially on a weekend morning, makes me feel good. So I started to think that there are a few things I like about this time of year.

Continuing the coffee meme, I also enjoy the Starbucks pepermint lattes that they offer this time of year - one of the few good seasonal drinks, compared to the rather gross pumpkin lattes.

And there's thanksgiving and Christmas - paid time off from work, time with family and friends, good food, ect. There are the Black Friday sales. There is the relief of being done with the semester's work (I have one presentation and a short paper due, and I'll be done in a week). My tradition after finals has been to get drunk off Rum-laced eggnog after the last final, and I look forward to that in a week's time.

And this Christmas, with Google Checkout/buy.com FAR deals, I have a pile of free and nearly-free stuff that I'll be selling off at the next couple Hamfests, plus a couple things from the newegg/paypal free shipping coupon.

But the best thing about winter is that it ends. See, I don't really appreciate summer as much during the summer, because I've forgotten how much the winter sucks. But come March, when it starts to get warm, when the cute coeds at work start swapping bubblegoose jackets and uggs for shorts and halter tops, when the leaves start blooming and the grass starts growing and I can roll down the windows of the Ranger and feel the breeze blow while I bump gangsta rap, I feel good, because things are changing for the better. Without pain, pleasure isn't as good, and without the winter, spring and summer aren't as fun.