Things I LIKE about winter

... more specificaly, about this winter.
The festive seasons are over and the long winter begins. Or so it seems. Usually I get 10x the usual Sunday evening blues at about this time but this year I'm bracing myself against it. Firstly, now that we have to walk the dog every day I'm testing out the theory that I just need more light and exercise in the winters to keep my spirits up. So far it's working. Second, I'm making a mental list of the reasons why I like winter and I'm working to make sure that I have good things to look forward to. So here it is:

-Christmas, New Years and all the other good socializing and relaxing.
- The silloettes of trees. I don't know why but I love looking at the bare tree just before sunset. There's so many different shapes and sizes... i wish I could identify them.
-Mom and Dad told me about the "blue hour" and how it turns into the "grey hour". Described in that way, I like looking for the right colours to feel out the day.
-Cass and Mike's stag and doe. Not just that day but for the next two months I'll be trying to organize and plan it. By the way, keep Feb. 28th open.
-It's freezing so there's no mud at least!
-Pulling out the graph paper, seed catalogues and the imagination. I love planning a garden in the winter. I rarely actually use any of my plans but it is almost as good as the horticultural therapy of actually being in the garden.
-Dan and I are planning on going away for a weekend with our friends Mike & Meg to the blacksheep inn. We haven't picked a date yet but I think that March would be a perfect month for it. I'm super excited about this one. It's a road trip, a night (or 2) away, good visiting with friends and probably some really good music. Maybe we can get some snow shoeing or something in too. Fun eh?
-As soon as there is any thaw, I have full permission to make whatever garden I want here. That should be fun. Good thing I have a roto tiller!

That's it for now but I'm really going to try to add to this list.