Saturday, January 24, 2015

endurance test



We are creeping into the last week of January, typically some of our coldest temps of the season, now through February though February can have some nice warm days. Anyway, this winter has not been as bad as last year, so far, and definitely not as bad as the year previous and even the winter previous to that. We've had a spate of harsh winters and after many years of almost no winter, with tropicals that were able to grow to 10' - 12' tall, it seems especially unfair to me. I liked those mild winters and summers that would get hot but not like the last 4 or 5. I even remember owning a winter coat growing up and for some of my adult life but I also can't remember when I bought my last coat. Jackets, long johns, heavy sweaters, yes, but a coat?

I don't like being cold. I used to be a lot more sensitive to it before, ya know, menopause. I was a skinny kid and pools and the Gulf would suck the heat right out of me even in the summer and after 30 minutes or so my lips and nail beds would be blue. The coldest I've ever been though was the winter I spent in Chicago going to school there. I was totally unprepared in the clothes department for one thing, but that snow and ice and wind just froze me to the bone. It was painful to be so cold. It was the most miserable I have ever been and one winter of that was enough for me.

This winter it seems like we have had a lot of consecutive overcast and cold and rainy days interspersed with a few nice days. I have a hard time getting motivated when it's cold and wet and gloomy out. Like today. Another reason I don't like to be cold.

Earlier this week though, while we were having nice spring like days and I was able to go barefoot outside for the first time in weeks, I realized another reason I don't like to be cold. I have to wear shoes which in itself is bad enough since unless I'm cold or I'm leaving the house, I'm barefoot. So it's not that I don't like to wear shoes, which I don't, but that I'm not in touch with the earth. I find contact with the earth to be essential. I think people suffer in detrimental ways from lack of contact with the earth.

Working outside, digging in the dirt, nurturing the living ecosystem is part of what makes us healthy and happy. Microbes in the soil activate the dopamine in our brains. Getting dirty bolsters our immune systems. Skin touching the earth absorbs the energy the earth emanates.

I know we need winter. Nature has her cycles of growth and rest and rest is essential but for me winter, real winter, is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. 




15 comments:

  1. We share similar opinions and reactions when it comes to being cold. Winter and I don't have an easy relationship. I don't like him. He freezes me in and out. We have snow today. The day is dark and wet... that slows me down.

    Spring will spring soon... yes, it will.

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  2. When I was in college in Cleveland we had one winter with record breaking lows. Twenty to thirty below, as I recall. I had two coats and gave one to a southern girl. My mom had knitted me two ski sweaters and we each wore one, plus lots more under the coats. It was exam week. It was horrid.
    I despise the cold, and still live in it. My BFF of more than 40 years is putting her house on the market and moving to Georgia. She picks up at the airport.

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  3. I could have written this myself. Except that I spent two winters in Denver and that was quite enough, thank you, never again.

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  4. I also prefer going barefoot. I never wear shoes or slippers around the house and will often walk barefoot down the road to the mailbox. Of course snowy Oregon winters make this difficult.

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  5. 40 is almost shirt sleeve weather here.

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  6. Could not have said it better, but I was never as cold growing up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado as I am here in my older age when it is a cold damp (damn) rain. But I will survive until spring.

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  7. Endurance is right. I am SO ready for spring! And we haven't even had that much snow this year...

    This past year was the first one in years that I routinely went barefoot - before that my hip just did NOT like me walking around without support. Can't wait to get back to it!

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  8. you have a good attitude towards being 'grounded' literally. :) i like being barefoot a lot, but going outside i slide into shoes, most of the time. and slippers inside in the wintertime.

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  9. It's been mild so far in Michigan. I'm the opposite of you...always been on the warm side.

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  10. The picture is beautiful and mysterious!

    This winter is so much better than last here in DC, too. This year I have a really great winter coat with a hood, something I've never had before. What was I waiting for? It really helps especially when it's windy.

    My favorite newly discovered winter clothing is FLEECE LINED TIGHTS! Omg they are heaven. The first day I wore them I didn't want to take them off. I slept in them. Ha. They're thin enough to fit under my pants, and so cozy.

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  11. I might have written a similar piece, finding myself barefoot and sleeveless most days, hoping for sun to warm the earth and allow me to play in it...

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  12. I might have written a similar piece, finding myself barefoot and sleeveless most days, hoping for sun to warm the earth and allow me to play in it...

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  13. I felt the same way about winter.. and it's still my least favourite season. But you'd think that after nearly 6 decades, I'd have been used to it a long time ago. It's only the last ten years or so that I've become more accepting of winter's charms. I have photography to thank for that .. at least in part. Still, I'm anxiously awaiting spring. It's too darn cold to be barefoot right now.

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  14. You're right about needing to be in contact with the earth and with growing things. I think a lot of kids suffer these days because they know nothing about the natural world.

    We need winter to appreciate summer, I suppose. But it sounds like you're definitely living in the right part of the country, temperature-wise!

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  15. Ellen, I say my dopamine levels must be high and my immune system should be in great shape. I've been outside clipping, raking, and burning today and that was just the start. I am one dirty girl... not to mention tired! But I'm happy to be outside working in the yard again!

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.