Surviving Winter

Oh, the torments of winter! The endless, drearily uneventful enormity of it all is enough to make the most composed and level-headed among us lose our sanity.

The calendar pages seem glued together, stubbornly bearing the word "January" each time we flip it open. We all find ourselves grappling with one existential question: how do I survive winter?

First, let's set the scene.

We're talking about a world beyond your cozy abode. It's out there, a mercilessly frosty, soul-sucking symphony of the coldest blues and whites, where winds howl like a banshee with a hyperactive larynx.

 Oh, they do not show any mercy since they're utterly relentless, battering against your home, seemingly with a personal grudge, making the entire setting uncannily resembling a hammer horror set.

Bitter cold gnashes its teeth outside while you find yourself incarcerated in your own warm fortress, fighting off both the blues and the literal cold whitewashes outside and pondering gloomily at the glacial wonderland from the little squares on your wall – windows?

Oh no, my friends, they're time-capsule television screens broadcasting an apocalyptic version of National Geographic, extreme winter edition.

Now, the drama paints a splendid picture, I know. But let's talk about the actual ‘struggles’ one endures, and oh, they're a hoot!

This season ravages through your lazy Sundays, when all you want to do is snuggle in your blanket and read Kafka while you're forced against your will to gear up and shovel snow off your driveway just to ensure the mailman can reach your mailbox, or so your car doesn't become an exhibit of the next Antarctic expedition. Ah, the horror of trading your calming read for snow-shoveling blues

And when, God forbid, you must step out of your warm domicile's safety to face the biting expanse of white that awaits you, the pestering layers of clothing make you look like an astronaut without the glamour of space exploration.

Tacky gloves, clunky boots, fourteen layers of thermals under the bulkiest of coats, and scarves wrapped till they've created an uncanny resemblance of a mummified snowman – isn't winter fashion just the best?

And the perpetual squabble with your car heater that seems hell-bent on turning your vehicle into a horse-drawn cold-storage wagon? To say it's frustrating would be an understatement. It's like having a one-sided conversation with your non-techy grandmother about the latest iPhone features.

Let's not forget the artistic skill required to navigate icy sidewalks. One moment you're walking; the next,…you're embodying the elements of disco, jazz, and salsa in an unsolicited public performance, focusing all your energies not to make the icy pavement your dance floor.

But through all these trials and tribulations, we still find a way to enjoy the beauty that winter brings. There is something majestic about the blanket of snow covering the urban landscape like a painting, the joy of a well-fought snowball fight, or the exhilaration of downhill sledding. Even the quiet of winter nights, where the snowfall muffles the world's sounds, can lend calm to the otherwise chaotic nature of life.

So yes, winter can sometimes be as appealing as a sweaty handshake, as engaging as a dialogue with a soup spoon. It can keep you captive and make you pine for the exciting cacophonies of spring and summer.

 But in its white, serene arms, it holds the power to truly rejuvenate, giving us heart-warming memories and stories that throb with hilarity and, sometimes, orchestrated clumsiness of life around us.

In the end, we survive. We shrug our shoulders, put on our heaviest coats, and step into the cold. We groan, grit our teeth, and get on with it – because that's what we do.

After all, as Albert Camus wisely remarked, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Doesn't that make you feel warm already?

Please share your thoughts and any response you may have in the form below.

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