Warmth

I do not LOVE winter per se, but I love so much of what winter brings. Christmas for one, what's not to love about great food, family, classic television shows and more. More so though. I love the warmth of winter. I know, I know. I live in Michigan. There IS no warmth in Michigan in the winter as evidenced by the last three days when the highest the mercury has reached is a balmy 16 degrees. Hardly Pina Colada weather. But winter brings warm things. Comfy things. It's those things that I love. Flannel and fleece jammies, flannel sheets, quilts, down comforters, slipper socks and crocheted blankies. They make me so warm and comfortable that I think I could sleep the whole day away wrapped up in their warmth. Then there's the actual heat. I've always been a heat monger, in the winter anyway.

In my childhood home there were these big wall-mounted heat registers. We burned wood but the house was old so it wasn't exactly the most air tight. So, when I'd get cold in my upstairs bedroom I'd sneak downstairs, grab the blankets off the couch/recliners, take a pillow off the couch and lay on the living room floor right in front of that register. In fact, I'd make myself a blanket tent and all the hot air from the furnace would get trapped right under my blankets and I'd sleep soundly. In the mornings, we'd battle for the kitchen register since it blew out the warmest heat. Had the kitchen been carpeted I would have, of course, chose THAT register to sleep by instead. Of course, my jammies of choice back then - footie jammies. In fact, I loved footy jammies so much that I wore them long past the time any single person should wear footy jammies. But, I AM only 5'0" and I was in college before I could get the scale to tip past 100 so finding footy jammies at 12 wasn't that difficult. ;) There's an embarrassing little secret. Alright, I don't know if I WAS 12, but I know for sure that I still wore footy jammies in 6th grade. HA!

When we moved into this home almost three years ago I was kind of excited that there was a free standing furnace in the kitchen. Okay, so it WOULD have been better if the furnace was in the living room where I could curl up on the carpet, but I still so LOVE coming downstairs on a cold winter morning and standing next to the heater. It's also a favorite place after work or any night I have trouble sleeping. I'm not sure if it's the warmth that makes me tired standing next to it or the fond memories of lapping up the heat in front of the old register at my parents that makes me drift off.

Winter does equal warmth in so many ways. As I sit here draped in fleece from neck to toe wrapped in a blanket watching the flames flicker in the kitchen, it's hard to imagine that there could be any season better than winter. Remind me of that in February, okay. ;)