The Will to Win at Winter
8:40 AM Posted In Winning at Winter Edit This 10 Comments »
Okay, so all this complaining I do about February, has nothing to do with the five year old in my heart that giggled when I walked out the door this morning to flurries. It's here! Winter is here! The snow! And the cold! And the Winter Wonderland that it makes of the neighborhood. I really do love it. Some of you remember the one and only vlog I've ever posted on New Life in South Dakota. It was all about how to stay warm when it's 40 below. Check it out if you've never heard my voice. Many of you were surprised. I was. Holy, do I ever have a South Dakota accent.
So, my Will to Win at Winter has returned. It's some sort of internal fight that I do indeed, win. I mean, I never DID stick a fork in my neck last February, so winter did not win. I will face the elements and I will be successful. Kind of like when I'm bundled to the hilt and I make that four block trudge from the parking lot to my office in a raging blizzard with 50 mph winds, and when I've peeled off every layer, I look out the window, shake my fist at Mother Nature and say, "You don't win today!" And then I laugh some evil cackling thing and go about my business.
The recovery club is also a place where I feel this triumph. When work is done and I just can't face a cold, lonely night in Tiny Apartment, I head there. And it's light and friends and coffee and stories and triumph over Human Nature. It's a good place to be when the elements outside are not cooperating.
But when I am finally home for the night, with blankets and slippers and tea and cats and a book and I hear the wind howling? That's when I feel it the most. The gratitude for a roof over my head. For my tiny, yet adequate apartment. For heat and light and good warm food. That's when my heart overflows with gratitude for the season and how blessed I really am.
In other news, I'm absolutely certain that a tampon delivery service would make a ton of money. That, or the drive through liquor stores should start stocking them. They'd make a mint. I mean, who doesn't want a bottle of vodka when you need tampons?
So, my Will to Win at Winter has returned. It's some sort of internal fight that I do indeed, win. I mean, I never DID stick a fork in my neck last February, so winter did not win. I will face the elements and I will be successful. Kind of like when I'm bundled to the hilt and I make that four block trudge from the parking lot to my office in a raging blizzard with 50 mph winds, and when I've peeled off every layer, I look out the window, shake my fist at Mother Nature and say, "You don't win today!" And then I laugh some evil cackling thing and go about my business.
The recovery club is also a place where I feel this triumph. When work is done and I just can't face a cold, lonely night in Tiny Apartment, I head there. And it's light and friends and coffee and stories and triumph over Human Nature. It's a good place to be when the elements outside are not cooperating.
But when I am finally home for the night, with blankets and slippers and tea and cats and a book and I hear the wind howling? That's when I feel it the most. The gratitude for a roof over my head. For my tiny, yet adequate apartment. For heat and light and good warm food. That's when my heart overflows with gratitude for the season and how blessed I really am.
In other news, I'm absolutely certain that a tampon delivery service would make a ton of money. That, or the drive through liquor stores should start stocking them. They'd make a mint. I mean, who doesn't want a bottle of vodka when you need tampons?
10 comments:
If the need for feminine products is a surprise to you each month, perhaps we should have a talk. :) Or try a DivaCup. Most amazing invention ever.
Yeah. um. TMI.
Also, the video is marked as private. Says I need an invite to see it.
Well I admire you. Personally, I'd like to beat winter back permanently with a move South... maybe even far south like the Caribbean!
I think our liquor stores need to start carrying liquor. I think this is a problem with me, however. In California an corner store or 7-11 carries booze. So I call any and all corner stores liquor stores. But they aren't sometimes they're just high fructose corn syrup stores.
I'll go one better. I declare that every box of tampons (or pads, why leave anyone out?) should come with a bottle of vodka packed right in the box. Definitely. Why has no one thought of this before? There is no better cure for cramps, in my books. (Just one shot in water, nothing crazy.)
Such an excellent point! Vodka and tampons, it's such a perfect combination, why didn't I think of it? ;)
I've always absolutely adored this blog, but now that I've seen your video, I just don't know how anyone couldn't like you/love you to bits. I used to read your blog with an older voice, one that sounds worn with...I dunno...the weight of life, I guess, but I can't anymore. I guess what I am trying to say is that how I read your blog has now changed, but for the better.
Thanks for being you and allowing random Canadian strangers to read your blog (and as such, having such great readers that have other really great, inspiring blogs. I'm looking at you, Jeff D'A and The Good Cook).
Please don't read my blog because I am a total jerk compared to you and most of your readers. You're like the good part of my internet experience.
Sorry. Does that sound weird? I don't mean it to be. Now I'm getting awkward and am likely to say (type) crazy things.
Take care.
Thanks for the link to the video. It's always such a treat to hear the voice of a fellow blogger (or a FB friend as well).
Wasn't really able to tell that you have an accent, so perhaps that's a good thing.
Don't think it ever hit negative temps here in CT, but it has hit singles at least a couple of times every year.
I love the vlog. You are adorable. And actually, your accent isn't as strong as you make it out to be. I also love the fact that your mom has made so many of your keep warm necessities.
The coldest I think I've been in my life was during Christmases in Minot and Duluth. COLD! And I didn't know how to dress for it.
Also, even with the winter hating, there's something so incredible about the early winter snow flurries.
My grandmother's favorite grocery story involved watching the woman ahead of her in line buy a bottle of vodka, a box of tampons and a bag of M&M's. What else would you need, really? P.S. this was in California, where the grocery stores sell booze.
You have my utmost admiration for getting through those winters. I can just picture you shaking your fist at old man winter! And hey, aren't you moving into an brighter new apartment mid-winter? That will be nice!
Loved the winter-weather advice. Eeek, I am just not ready for it yet. And I AGREE. February is the shortest and yet WORST month of the year. Keep posting your tips (and adorable socks!) to keep me sane :)
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