There’s not much between summer and winter these days and around the middle of April we seem to jump from quite warm weather one week to freeze your bones cold seven days later.
Our bodies will slowly get used to it but the reality is that the cold is here to stay at least until the end of August or early September.
That’s around 110-120 days of being rugged up we have got to get through, so there’s no point complaining.
No, let’s do what the Monty Python boys suggested in Life of Brian and always look on the bright side of life.
Winter’s good for plenty of things, even though I could only come up with five of them for the South West Voice’s Top 5 blog. Feel free to add your own now that you’re no doubt in a positive frame of mind…
♦ 1. Food that warms you all over: soups, stews, hot curries, meat pies and sausage rolls, hot chips – these go with winter like a horse with a carriage, like, well, bacon and eggs. They’re good in summer too, but feel really special if you’re eating them in front of a big heater or a roaring fire.
♦ 2. Snow business: Personally, when someone tells me they’re off to the snow, in response I have a standard question for them: Why, isn’t it cold enough for you here? Seriously though, there must be something really special up there in the Snowy Mountains because a lot of people get out there some time during the winter.
♦ 3. Backyard footy: The family’s around for Sunday lunch, great, but afterwards don’t sit in front of the telly to watch the footy, get out in the backyard and play your own game of footy. Whether your choice of code is league, union, Aussie Rules or soccer, it doesn’t matter – this is a great way to warm up.
♦ 4. Winter clothes rigmarole: only in winter do you get to wear those big, thick items of clothing which don’t see the light of day for nine months. Get out those big woollen sweaters, the heavy coats, the beanies and the scarves. Funny thing is that it actually feels like you’re getting dressed up in winter, compared to summer’s wardrobe of shorts, thongs and a T-shirt on most days.
♦ 5. Put away the beer, way too cold to enjoy. Same for cocktails loaded with ice cubes, white wine and champagne. Winter is the time for beverages that warm you up, so it’s hot cups of tea or coffee, red wine with the meal, and a wee glass of port or liqueur muscat with dessert. Winter doesn’t seem that bad after all, so don’t rush back Summer.
