Thoughts of Spring

There is always a period between Christmas and the start of spring that leaves us in a sort of void. Although, I’m sure not everyone feels this way, it is always this time of year where I long for the days to grow longer, the temperatures to rise and cloudless blue skies.

Once the festivities of Christmas have been and gone I forget we are still in the depths of winter. That the days are still painfully short and the chance of snow grows ever more likely. That the wind is unforgiving and the rain is hard and cold. That we are still a long way from spring.

It is awfully tempting to simply stay inside and not to venture out. To stockpile the tea bags and biscuits, to do online food shopping instead and to take the dog out first thing so you don’t get caught out come 3pm when the sun starts its slow descent.

While I love the idea of winter – of cosying up beside the fire, of baking warm crumbles and cooking casseroles – the reality, I find, is always somewhat different. My boyfriend said to me the other night, during another one of my frequent seasonal outbursts where I complain about this seemingly everlasting (and bitterly cold) period – “You would’ve thought you’d be over this by now, you’ve had 29 winters”.

So, what are the best ways to overcome it? Buy a special lamp that wakes you slowly in the mornings they say, book a summer holiday to look forward to they suggest, ‘get over it, spring will be here soon’ is another popular reply. Like the 28 before me then, I shall simply ride out the storm. I shall wait patiently in my dressing gown and drink copious amounts of tea. I shall make plans for the summer and remember that winter is all but fleeting. 

But above all, I will learn to appreciate it. After all, spring will be here soon.