For various reasons we will most likely stay in Ontario this winter.  We decided to love winter this year, the Norwegian way.

We used to have some fun in winter when our kids were growing up.  Snow forts, and skating.  Snowmen and snow angels were so much fun.  One year we built a whole igloo and another year we made a skating rink in the backyard.  It’s not clear when we started to try and be away from it as much as we could.  somewhere along the way winter became harder to deal with and less enjoyable.  The extra care and worry that horses need  in the winter, or perhaps fighting for the life of a 34 year old horse in -30c for hours and losing the fight had something to do with this.  Not too sure, but the reality is that we started hating winter.

I said to Tony in passing that we should make an effort to enjoy winter this year and as serendipity has its way, I came across this article that reinforced this half-baked thought.   The people in northern Norway seem to love their winter and they have some tricks up their sleeves that are worth mimicking.

When I forwarded the article to Tony I wasn’t expecting much action from him, but I was very wrong.

The next day he surprised me with a lovely mulled Sangria.  We sipped it as we watched the early November snow float in the air and felt an unexplained warmth.  It wasn’t just the Sangria.

Make it positive

It seems that everyone is complaining about the weather.

All the time.

Wherever you go.

We decided that this year we will avoid complaining.  Moreover, we will find something positive to say about the weather every day.

At first it was a bit of a joke; we would look out the window and comment about the lovely day with a bit of a smirk, but slowly, commenting on the beauty of the fresh snow, the changing light, or the crispness of the air, made everything just a bit nicer.  We started looking forward to the next snowfall.

“Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!”

Or translated from Norwegian, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.  I am still not too sure that this statement is entirely correct, but let’s concentrate on the second part.  It’s kind of true, and we are both very guilty of underdressing for the weather.

Also, we might be the only people in Canada without proper long johns!  We always dash out in a sweatshirt when really, we should be wearing a warm jacket. Or go out without a scarf/hat/gloves on. No wonder we’re always cold and miserable.

So we made another decision: this winter we will make sure to dress according to the weather.  Take a minute to put some layers on and even if we need to go out for a few minutes, make a point to stay warm.

Stay active

One of the issues that we had with winter is that come November/December, we start hibernating.   This year we decided that we will continue with our daily hikes and not let the weather get in the way.  If we stick to the positive outlook and proper attire, we should be able to stick with it and enjoy it.

So far it’s working: we already had lots of cold and snowy weather, but we just kept on going.  Lo and behold, we are enjoying our walks just as much as we did in warm weather.

our favourite is the “sunset walk”

This may be a good place to mention that we are no longer keen on winter sports.  We might try snowshoeing when we get some deep snow, but our skiing/skating days are over and done with.

It’s for the birds

One of most enjoyable things we have done so far is joining the Feeder Watch program.  You may have heard that the bird population is declining rapidly, and some action is needed to stop and reverse this trend.  We set up a few more bird feeders and are now tracking and reporting bird activity at the feeder 2 days a week throughout the winter season.  This is way more fun than we thought it will be and we are really enjoying the activity outside our window.

We get a lot of cute visitors to the feeders!

and there is a lot more bird activity in the trees around the feeders.

It’s the attitude

Changing our attitude made all of the difference and it was easier than we thought it will be. It’s funny how being active, even if only chasing the squirrels away from the bird feeder, makes cozying up with a warm drink feel like an earned perk and not hibernation.  The only downside is that we ended up drinking a few too many warm Sangrias.

Try it out, but be careful – it can be addictive:

MULLED SANGRIA

• 2 glasses Sangria or red wine of your choice(we use Yellow Tail Sangria)
• 2 slices of orange
• squirt of lemon juice or lemon slice
• dash cinnamon
• dash allspice

Warm up the Sangria oranges and spices (do not heat over 50 celcius), pour into 2 glasses and enjoy in front of the fireplace (we use the fireplace on TV).

Once you finish the Sangria, you can use the bottle to make a bird cantina like the one Tony made.  They love it!

As if wanting to get in on the experiment, winter showed up very early this year.    We already had a couple of big dumping of snow and -20c temperatures before the middle of November.  It is still technically fall, but it’s been winter-like for almost a month now.

So far we are enjoying winter and we are determined to see this through to spring!

Bring it on!

We may still end up taking a trip south, but if not, we have a good strategy in place.  If this winter ends up being really really long, we might take up knitting.

Do you have any mind tricks or any other tricks to help you get through winter?  No skiing suggestions please 🙂

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