Practicing for Winter

We bring our own bright color into dim days.

I actually really like grey days. I know many people find them dreary and prefer sun, but is there anything cozier than coming into your own house and being met by a pool of warm lamplight and the promise of something hot to drink? Or even better, staying in and snuggling up with books and cats and other quiet things? I have loved the long days of summer, but I am looking forward to all that autumn brings.

These days it feels like practice for what is to come. The days do get incredibly short in the autumn and winter, and that was a surprise to me last year. I'd traveled here a lot before we moved here, but never in winter, and I just never thought about what the other side of the long-summer-days coin would be like. At the winter solstice, sunrise is after 8am, and sunset is before 4pm. Last year those days felt painfully short. This year, I'm determined to be ready to embrace them.

And really, I think the key is simply being ready. Knowing they are coming, we can plan ahead to make the most of those days. I'm not saying it won't get difficult once February rolls around, and we're tired of being cold on top of wanting more light, but I think that we can at least love the shift of the seasons all the way into the beginning of the new year. It's another adjustment to make to living in a whole different place, on a whole different latitude line, but one I'm sure we're quite capable of making.