Like many northerners, I enjoy seeing a little snow around Christmas but soon afterward begin to wish it were springtime. But, alas, there are still three months until spring if it arrives on time. Then if we have a cold snowy February like this year, it seems like winter goes on forever. So how does one make the time fly by? I was thinking about that today. My wife and I must be doing a particularly good job this year as I have hardly had time to wish for spring yet. Here are my recommendations for making a long winter shorter.
First, be sure to make a big deal of Christmas and by all means, don’t tear all the decorations down on Dec. 26th. For ourselves, we never take any decorations down before Epiphany (Jan. 6) which is the traditional end of the Christmas season in the Christian Church. Then, since I invite children from church over to see my trains around the tree and there are usually some children who haven’t come by Jan. 6, I leave the trains up longer until all have had a chance to see them. So what if it is sometimes February by the time I get it all put away.
Second, I suggest having some winter-only hobbies. We have two. One is feeding the birds. Here in rural CT, bears will tear your feeder apart, I’m told, if you feed birds while they are awake anyway, so bird feeding makes a great winter hobby. It’s also a very cheerful thing watching chickadees, juncos, cardinals, nuthatches, woodpeckers, etc. outside your window. Occasionally a hawk may visit seeking a fat junco for a meal. This year I have a cute and perky Carolina wren visiting regularly.
Another activity that JoAnne and I save for winter weeks is putting together jigsaw puzzles. We both enjoy the challenge. After we complete one, we carefully bag up the puzzle and put it back in the box for storage. We’ll get it out and put it together again in a year or two. Some become favorites and go together faster every year. Essentials for this hobby are a spare dedicated table spot that doesn’t need to be disturbed often, a small collection of puzzles you like in sizes you like, and a handy puzzle lamp. We like 500, 750 and 1000 piece sizes the best.
In addition to our work at church and our interaction with our daughter and her family, these 3 winter pastimes keep the cold days passing quickly. Before we know it, it will be spring. And I haven’t even resorted to pulling out the seed catalogs to make garden plans yet—well, maybe a few times.
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