A Northern Girl

There's a certain empowerment in choosing how/who you want to be. I believe I've mentioned my dislike for the cold, but as I was watching the laziest snowflakes flutter down onto the bare lake, I found that I don't have to hate the cold. This might seem a bit silly, but cold doesn't have to defeat me. I can choose to defeat the cold. The difference isn't that I can choose to have a warmer day, the difference is that I can choose to look at it from another perspective. Let's call it the perspective of gratitude. So here, a list of things that are only possible with the cold:

Spring. You've got to admit that Springtime is absolutely magical in how things come back to life. Other tropical areas and the South don't have the mystery of rebirth in the prolonged and beautiful way that we do. And you can't have the Spring's tender shoots of new life without the thawing of cold ground. We get to live through the seasons and experience them in our own lives and when you're connected with that rhythm, well, it just feels nice.

Ice cream. Ice cream is perhaps considered a Summer thing, but in my opinion, you're not an ice cream connoisseur until you've had ice cream while cuddled under a blanket and watching snow fall. It's fun. :) Oh, and you can't make ice cream without the process of freezing it first which, I should mention, is only possible thanks to cold.

Snow. Snow is just beautiful. There really isn't anything you can compare it to and the amount of people that have never seen it is rather large, so it's a privilege to grow up with it. "Wash me white as snow", it's even in the Bible. :) And let's not forget the many things you can do in snow. Sledding, skiing, snowboarding, snowball fights, snow angels, snow forts, it really is an endless list.

Ice skating. A marvelous Winter activity. If you haven't tried it, you really should.

Soups. Yes. You can enjoy soup in the Summertime but there is just something amazing about sitting down at a table with the wind howling outside the house and a steamy bowl of soup cupped in your hands. I especially love my Mom's Vietnamese pho, Grandma's butternut squash soup, and the nourishing chicken soup that I can smell being prepared in the kitchen at this very moment.

Autumn. Now here's a grand reason to love the cold. Because Autumn is absolutely breathtaking. All those gorgeous leaves are the result of dropping temperatures and I'm thankful for it.

Orion Night Skies. You can only see him in the Winter. I saw him coming up over a mountain's silhouette the other night and he's a marvelous constellation. I've always felt like Orion was my friend, not to be weird or anything. :)

Heat. Without first knowing what it is to be cold, you cannot fully appreciate what it is to be warm. Therefore, I am more grateful for the warmth of a fire because I know the cold of whipping wind. And that's alright.

I choose to embrace who I am: a Northern girl. And I will be proud of it. It takes strength and dignity to survive a Winter in the countryside, and I'm glad to know that I can do it. So here's to the cold and all that it entails.