I Actually Kind of Like the Winter (Alissa Grosso)

Photo taken on a recent afternoon while skiing with my dog.

There's an opinion that I don't usually share on social media sites, especially not during January or February, for fear of the backlash and angry vitriol that others will unleash, and that is that I'm actually fond of winter. Somehow, I think that posting something about how I'm all for the slaughter of innocent puppies (of course, I'm not!) would inspire a less vocal response than stating that I enjoy the winter. Also, for those of you who are now assuming that I must be one of those annoying Floridians who spends all winter posting pictures of themselves lounging poolside and frolicking in tank tops (Mom and Dad, I'm looking at you!) I'll explain that I live in eastern Pennsylvania where we have actual winters with snow and cold weather and stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the warmer weather we've been having lately. Through the miracles of Facebook, I know that in Florida when temperatures reach the 40s and 50s folks break out the gloves and mittens and bundle up as if they are about to trek across an Arctic tundra, while here in Pennsylvania, the more optimistic folks break out their shorts once the mercury hits, say 42 degrees. I guess the truth is that I enjoy having a variety of seasons. It keeps things from becoming boring.

Winter, though, has always been my favorite season. I know it flies in the face of popular opinion, but I like when it gets dark earlier. It always feels magical and happy to me. Maybe it has something to do with being the sort of person who likes curling up with a book under a blanket on a cold winter night.

Getting set to head out for some afternoon skiing.

It's not just indoor fun that I enjoy in the winter. My dog and I are both of the opinion that snow is perfect for playing. He runs around and rolls in it. I break out the cross country skis and try to keep up with my four legged companion. I usually try to skip the rolling around thing, but there have been some notable exceptions, like the day this winter when I slipped on some ice on the way back from one of our skiing/running adventures or the day not too long ago when the boot release lever on my ski got jammed with ice and I had to ski the whole way home, which involved having to ski behind my leashed dog as we had to cross roads and such, which in turn led to me landing on the ground when he smelled something interesting and decided to pull me in a direction my skis did not want to go.

Jack waiting for me to catch up to him.

Okay, so winter can be a bit of an adventure sometimes. But I like a bit of an adventure, especially the sort of adventure that also involves the peaceful solitude of freshly fallen snow and perhaps, if I'm lucky, the sight of an eagle out scouting for dinner on the river.

And of course spring has its own sort of adventures, some of which involve rolling around on the ground in the mud, as my dog likes to do, or as I did just yesterday, when my canine companion got excited by the appearance of a cute female dog roaming free in the warm weather and somehow managed to trip me up with his leash. I'm fine, but I do hope that the guy who had a bird's eye view of the whole incident while working on the telephone lines wasn't filming the whole thing for YouTube posterity.

I'm sure they have all sorts of adventures in places with less interesting weather. I recently learned about one such Florida incident involving a bicycle and a car windshield that like my own dog-walking adventures was thankfully not a medical emergency but certainly YouTube-worthy. I'm just saying there's more variety to our adventures in four season climates. I enjoy them all, but the winter ones are my favorite of all.