Weird things #1: You and you're house do not get along during Winter

Part 1 in a series of I don't know how long...

This is our second winter here in Illinois and as such we consider ourselves "experienced" when it comes to all things cold, snowy and icy. Most mid-westerners would not label us as experienced as we have labelled ourselves, but when you go through as much climatic change as we have in the last 15 months, believe me it puts you in a much different place than you were back in Texas. We've amassed a list if weird things that we've discovered only occur when the temperature drops and stays low.

Weird thing #1: The house

When it's cold outside (and I now define "cold" as temperatures less than 40) you tend to stay inside. Spending lots of time indoors can turn what used to be a nice, new, spacious home into a 6x6 prison. There simply are not enough floors to separate you from each other and not enough pay-per-view to keep you occupied.

Your house throws-up toys, shoes, clothes, couch cushions, blankets, jackets; it's reverse migration, it ALL comes out and doesn't really find its way back in. It reminds me of those penguin movies (either one, the animated of real-life); you know when all of a sudden 2 penguins turn into 20, then into 200, then into 5000. Before you know it there's a million of them in one place, all huddled together to brave winter. Instead of finding a nice cave somewhere, because there are so many caves in Antartica (just go along with me), they get out IN the elements to survive. Our junk does the same thing. And you can forget about trying to keep things "picked up" and clean. The carpets, the walls, the doors, all of them take on this winter hue and it's NOT white. I'm not slamming our capability to clean, because between you and me I can get fierce on cleaning the house. You just never have the chance to leave the house. It's a black hole, again like my feelings about Wal-Mart.

By February you hate your house, your furniture, the walls and that smell that results from the place being closed up for 3 months. We're not a gross family, but things stink after a while. It's no surpise that when the mercury rises above 50 people spring from their cages, in shorts and crocs, and begin congregating on their driveways. It's literally like animals coming out of hibernation. Last winter we would go weeks without seeing the people that live 30 yds from our house. I had no idea that the dude two doors down had 6 kids until they all busted out last spring.

So this year I'm not going to despise my house. We (me and the house) made a promise: it won't make me feel like a prisoner and I won't hold it responsible for winter weight gain and exhorbitant gas bills. Sounds like a deal.

4greens

Last week we had a pretty good snow, but you know what...the grass was still visible even through 4 inches of cover. Despite what gets dumped on us, even what appears to be harmless and possibly enjoyable, the grass is still there - growing. We have an obligation to nuture it and ensure it survives through whatever may come its way.