Manners Matter

Dear Mary Pat,

I feel a little sad these days. Winter is really dragging. I rolled my eyes at all the hoopla surrounding Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day. I mean please, does it really take an over-sized squirrel to tell us what we already know? WINTER WILL NEVER END!!!!!!!! Am I the only one who feels this way?

Signed,

Winter Blues x 10

Sister Bay, WI

Dear Winter Blues x 10,

No, you are not the only one who feels this way. Just this morning I had the urge to hurl my dog into a snow bank just because he was happily frolicking in the falling snow and genuinely enjoying winter. Now before you call the ASPCA on me, I’m just trying to make a point. (There are benefits of my anonymity, clearly.) There is a handful of people that you run into that love winter. They tend to be skiers or skaters and they walk around town with big smiles, oblivious to their chapped faces and the fact that they need six layers so as not to suffer from frostbite. For the rest of us, winter can get to be a little much. There are the tedious driving conditions, endless shoveling, and the bitter cold… Wait a second, I’m probably not being much help to you, am I? See paragraph two for more positive advice.

Yes, winter has a couple of inconveniences, but let’s start thinking about some of the good things, shall we? Who wants to live in a climate where you can’t have a white Christmas? Who wants to live in a climate where you can’t appreciate the warming temperatures of spring? Who wants to live in a climate where you don’t get snow days off of school? Who wants to live in a climate where you can’t make a snowman or snow angel? Who wants to live in a climate where you can’t have a Fish Creek Winter Festival? Who wants to live in a climate where you can’t peg your neighbor with a snowball? Whoops, there’s that negative energy creeping back in. Disregard the last one.

Deep down, you know that we’ll be tripping through the tulips before long. *

Good luck,

Mary Pat

* If this is not a comfort, you may want to see if you are suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Check with your doctor on this one. I’m afraid I didn’t attend medical school.