Twelve Good Things About Winter

We have had an unusually cold, wet, dreary winter here in North Florida this year, in fact the entire state has seen some very cold, occasionally record breaking temperatures this year. We are normally blessed with relatively mild winters here in Florida, so when we do have an actual cold winter, we don't like it. That couple of weeks of arctic chill we had in January were brutal and I'll add that the electric bill to follow was also brutal, OUCH! We've all done our share of complaining about the weather these last couple of months, myself included. But as I sat on couch last night, wrapped in a quilt with my dog Ziggy cuddled up next to me while I read a good book, I thought to myself, this is nice, I like this. I started thinking, there are some things I like about the cold weather.

• Snuggling under a blanket reading a good book with your dog (or cat for some people) snuggled up next to you
• Hot Chocolate!
  
• Toasted Doughnuts
• No mosquitos, and a lot less of the other bugs too
• A big pot of homemade soup, my personal favorites, Chicken Noodle or Vegetable Beef with a grilled cheese sandwich.
  
• Being able to enjoy sitting around a fire in the outdoor fire pit while sipping hot chocolate or whatever your choice of cocktail
• Being able to pull my sweaters out of storage, I love my sweaters
  
• Hanging around the house in my big baggy sweatshirt and flannel pants
• It's nice to get in my car and it not feel like it's 200 degrees
• I like the fact that it's not 98 degrees outside
  
• NOT SWEATING - And at my current stage of life, that's rare.
• When spring does arrive, we're really going to appreciate the beautiful weather even more.

So fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate, wrap up in your favorite quilt, grab a good book and your favorite furry friend and hang in there for a little while longer. We'll all be complaining about the heat soon enough.

Note:
If you're a northerner reading this I know what you're thinking, we should stop whining about the cold, we don't have it nearly as bad as our friends up north. I completely agree, I watch the weather reports, see the pictures and I am very thankful to be a Floridian. I can't imagine battling the elements the folks up north have had to contend with this year.