We’ve gone through several weeks of lots of snow and cold. With the cold comes problems keeping things running, and keeping vehicles unstuck. Fortunately, our community has the skills to help out with these problems in all kinds of weather.
One thing I’m noticing about myself is as the years go by I’m a bit more reluctant to get outside when the temperatures are low. And my rational mind knows very well that keeping consistently active is important for overall health, both physical and mental. I’ve kept up with the regular exercises, but have had to struggle to keep active otherwise. I thank my dog Franco for getting me out for daily walks. Franco is still a young dog, and he needs to get out and stretch his legs daily.
But it is the firewood that really makes me get out and doing. Our woodshed it attached to the garage/workshop. The firewood I feed the fires with is stored in racks inside the entryway to the house. That means a carry of 200′ or so to fill up the racks in the entryway. While I’m filling the woodshed in the summer, I don’t give much thought to the fact that I’ll be carrying every stick of this wood through the snow, across the yard, and into the racks, and from there into the fireboxes, and after that the ashes out to the dump pile. This adds up to a lot of trips, all of which are good for me.
Today it was real cold outside but the wood racks were getting low, so I braved the weather and did my trips. Once I get out and going, things are fine, but it is the getting going that is getting hard for me. My neighbors have horses, which get them out and active with the daily chores. I know lots of people that ski and snowshoe too.
One thing we tell new-comers to our area is to make your peace with winter. You can’t fight it, so you might as well declare a truce at least. If you can get out and enjoy it no matter what the weather throws at you, you’ll be fine.