For the Winter Blues: Things You Have to Look Forward to
It is totally understandable if winter is starting to get a little old. You’re craving sunlight and time outside, but you have to put on multiple jackets just to step outside, the sun sets before you’re off work, and some days the sky stays grey all day and the sun is nowhere to be found.
If it feels like you can’t possibly take another minute of winter, you’re definitely not alone.
But the good news is, spring will be here in just a few weeks. In these next few weeks, you have so much to look forward to.
Upcoming Dates:
February 4- The Halfway Point of Winter
February 4 marks the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. So that means that on February 5th, you will be closer to the first day of spring than to the start of winter.
March 12- Daylight Savings
When the calendar says March 12, we magically get an extra hour of sunshine before the sun goes down. That’s an extra hour in the afternoon to get outside and be in nature and feel the sunshine you have been craving all winter long.
March 20- The First Day of Spring
March 20th is the Spring Equinox. On this date, the Sun and Earth’s positions in space make it official-winter is over.
I’m taking an astronomy class right now and I’m not gonna lie- learning about the seasons, what causes them, the way sunlight changes from season to season, and the constellations we see in the night sky depending on the season- it’s all getting me really excited for spring and the happy changes that are coming.
And it will all happen real soon.
As the Earth Slowly Comes Back Alive, You Will Experience:
Those First Few Warm Days of the Year
If you’re used to the brutal cold, “warm” is super subjective. 48° and sunny just might feel like the greatest thing ever (I’m writing this while sitting on my balcony on a lovely 49° day).
Those first warm days are objectively one of the greatest “mundane” things we get to experience in this life. It’s like a reset. Your body is so used to cold temperatures that warmish days feel like a pot of sunshine. You feel incredibly grateful for the sunshine and hints of green in the grass and trees while in summer, you start to get used to these things. You feel all this happiness and excitement for the things Earth does by default.
The start of spring brings out so many positive feelings. This is a beautiful thing and you should ride out these good emotions as much as you can.
Those Days that Just Feel Like Spring
You know those days when you step outside and you can just feel it in your bones that spring is coming?
It looks like spring. With the sun starting to set later, the afternoon sun looks a little different. The grass is beginning to look a little greener and trees start to bud. You see more people out and about just enjoying being outside.
It smells like spring. Maybe it’s just the pollen, but every year in the early spring, there are days that just smell like spring, you know?
It feels like spring. The sun starts to hit a little warmer, the ground starts to thaw a little bit, and it just feels like spring.
Watching the Snow Melt and Seeing Green Grass Again
Sure, it will absolutely snow many more times this season. I live in Colorado, and I can expect snow until Mother’s Day.
But as time goes on, the ground will start to thaw, the color will return to the ground, and walking barefoot outside will be a plausible option. Eventually, snow won’t be a constant sight, and slipping on ice won’t be a concern anymore.
Seeing the First Leaf Bud
I feel like every year, by March I’m beyond ready for the trees to start growing leaves again. I start searching every day for a tree with leaf buds. Then all of a sudden, half the trees in town are covered in them.
It’s always such an exciting feeling when you see them. You realize spring is actually finally here and soon the Earth will be alive and green again.
Flowers!
Just imagine how excited you will be when you see the first little flower poking out through the grass or on a tree. Maybe it’s a yellow dandelion, one of those little white flowers that grow on trees in the spring, or whatever little flowers grow where you live.
When the dead grass and half-melted snow is bumming you out, imagine how beautiful that same spot will look with flowers scattered around.
Things You Will Get to Do:
Go Outside Without a Jacket
Within the next few weeks, there will be days warm enough that you won’t need a jacket to be outside. There might even be days you can get away with wearing a short sleeve shirt, shorts, a skirt, or whatever pieces of summer clothing have been collecting dust in your closet all winter.
The extra warmth in the air and vitamin D will be so good for you and the change in clothes will be exciting.
Lay in the Warm Sun
One beautiful thing about winter is that it makes you incredibly grateful when the warm sun finally does come back. I know the cold really sucks right now, but just imagine how it will feel to lay in the warm golden sun.
Personally, that feels like a dream right now. Thankfully, that dream will be a reality in just a few weeks.
When the cold is pissing you off, remind yourself that you will be able to sunbathe soon and just how good it will feel.
Sit Under the Shade of a Tree
It’s an incredible thing to be able to share shade with a living thing that has been standing in that spot in the ground for longer than you have been alive.
Before you know it, the trees will have leaves again, there will be enough sunshine and warmth to choose to be in the shade, and you will once again get to sit under the shade of a tree.
It Will All Be Here Sooner Than You Expect
I know it feels like winter has lasted a year so far with 2 years left to go, but you really only have a few weeks left to go.
I promise you will make it, but in the meantime, keep looking forward to these things and reminding yourself that you will get to experience it all very soon.
Check back next week for ideas on how to make the most of these next few weeks and find that warmth and sunshine you’ve been craving.
