The leaves are falling, the days are growing shorter, and you’re holding off as long as you can before switching on the house heat. Yes, Old Man Winter is on his way, and no matter how much we fight it, those days of blizzards and wind chills are coming.
And while we adore summer’s late sunsets, warm lakes, beach barbecues, and lazy cottage weekends, we think there are plenty of things to love about winter, too. That’s why, instead of bemoaning the impending cold and snow, we’re choosing to embrace the much-maligned season, and here are 10 reasons why.
1. You can go back to indulging in creamy pastas, hearty soups, cheesy sandwiches, and other comfort foods without feeling guilty. After all, when it’s cold outside you’ll need those extra calories to help you keep warm, so eat up. It also doesn’t hurt that winter clothing can be very forgiving.
2. Speaking of winter clothes, you can reunite with your favourite cozy sweaters—it’s the only season where you can comfortably wear wool without breaking a sweat.
3. You can get back to perfecting your skills in all the sports that Canada is famous for: skating, skiing, snowshoeing, and curling. Challenge yourself to the Black Diamond slope that slipped you up last winter.
4. Every time you go outside, you’ll look like a fresh-faced youth with perfectly rosy cheeks that not even the best make-up can mimic.
5. It’s perfectly acceptable to turn down social invites so you can bury yourself under a blanket and binge-watch Netflix or read this year’s line-up of Giller finalists. When the weather outside is frightful and it’s dark by 5 p.m., no one will think you’re lazy for making a date with your couch.
6. A clear sky on a bitterly cold winter day is unlike any other view of the sky you’ll get the rest of the year—hazy summer afternoons can’t compete with the crisp, blinding blue of a sunny winter’s sky.
7. Planning a vacation is way more fun when it’s mid-winter at home. Caribbean beach resorts, island yoga retreats, snowbird communities are that much more enticing when there’s snow on the ground. Book your escape and get ready for that unparalleled joy of saying goodbye to a wind chill of minus 35—even if it’s only for a week.
8. The first snowfall is just as magical as it was last year—and the year before that, and the year before that. No matter how much we all complain about winter, when those first flakes fall, we all run to the window to watch. The first snowfall reminds us of when we were kids wishing for school to be cancelled or when we’d run outside to catch snowflakes on our tongues.
9. The colder it gets, the warmer the drinks. A mulled wine or hot toddy never tasted so good.
10. You can get a fresh start on last year’s New Year’s resolutions—and this year, you really will keep them. Really.
