2) I Love Winter
. . .Especially when it is snowing outside, like it is now. Apparently, this is the snowiest December in the Twin Cities since 2000. It's enough to give you some hope that George Bush and the other right-wing nut jobs are right and global warming is just a leftist plot to steal our precious petroleum fluids.
Some of the reasons I like winter:
- No yardwork (Yeah there's snow shoveling, but that takes a lot less time, even in snowy years like this one.)
- No mosquitoes (They search me out above all others from miles around in the summertime)
- Sunny days (We actually get a lot of bright sunny winter days in Minnesota, which is just gorgeous when everything is covered with a blanket of snow)
- That squeaky-crunchy sound that snow makes under your boots
- Skiing and skating (not that I've done either recently, but I like the idea that I could do them)
- The feeling of moral superiority I get as I, having already shed my hat and gloves. jog past the incredulously staring lone dog walker, bundled up to his/her (can't tell which!) eyebrows
- Watching suckahs get their cars towed for failing to move them from the streets on plowing days (Schadenfreude, baby!)
- Hot chocolate
- Snow! (Did I say that already?)
And my most favorite thing about winter in Minnesota: It keeps the riff-raff out!
1) Napping Makes Me Sick.
I haven't been able to find an explanation for this, despite prodigious Googling. If I fall asleep during the day, I wake up feeling like something even the cat wouldn't drag in. Typical sensations are headache, dizziness, shakiness, and extreme nausea accompanied by a horrible taste in my mouth that tooth-brushing won't touch. It is exponentially worse if I nod off and am suddenly awakened twenty minutes later by a phone ringing or something else that startles me, but any period of sleep less than about two hours seems to result in at least some of the above symptoms. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to happen if I am already sick (e.g. from a cold) or if I wake up in the middle of the night having slept for only a short time.
The solstice may still be three weeks away, but it's December and there's a fresh blanket of snow on the ground (with a couple more inches expected tomorrow), so in my book, it is officially Winter.
About a year and half ago I started running (well jogging, to be more accurate), after about a 18 year hiatus. A few months after that, I wrote in an earlier post about my checkered history with the cross country running team and my ambivalent feelings about the sport. Over a year later, I'm pleased to say I am still at it, and my knees haven't cried uncle yet.
One of the unexpected pleasures I have discovered has been winter running. After running all through the warmer months of 2006, I didn't want to lose the ground I had gained once the weather got cold, so my first attempts to run in the snow were out of desperation to avoid the boredom of running on a treadmill at the gym. Although the late sunrise and early sunsets restrict most of my winter runs to weekends, to my surprise, I found that by dressing in layers I didn't have any trouble staying warm. It also helps that I live in close proximity to Minneapolis's "Chain of Lakes," and the city keeps the paths relatively ice and snow-free throughout the winter.
This winter, I have even run two races while it was snowing. On Thanksgiving morning, I ran the Drumstick Dash, which at 6 miles, was also the longest race I have ever run. I then went home and hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 17. This past Saturday, I did the Reindeer Run. The temperature was about 17 degrees and there was a nippy wind whipping off Lake Harriet. The snow started falling shortly before the race got underway, and there was about an inch on the ground by the time it was over. Of course I was running, so I stayed relatively warm. My devoted husband, however, who came to cheer me on, was not as enthusiastic about the whole "running in a winter wonderland" scenario. Guess who's getting long underwear for Chanukah?
(Just kidding, Dan).