Winter is Coming

As I write this, snowflakes are falling, struggling to stick to the ground and accumulate to something. Mother nature is almost begging "No, winter don't start. Don't bring in your cold, your darkness and your despair."

I am mentally preparing myself for my least favorite months of the year. However, it wasn't always like this. I grew up with skiing being a huge part of my life, I counted down the days until the mountains opened and I could finally feel the rush of going down a mountain at high speeds. I loved the snowball fights, forts and sledding. All this changed when I moved, now that I was older and more mature I didn't have the energy (and for the first couple years, friends) to partake in wintery activities. My sister, who I always played with moved to college and soon enough I realized that the east just didn't get the snow compared to where I used to live.

Now that I switched my sport to rowing, all I look forward to is being on the water with the sun high in the sky. I associate the winter with perpetual darkness, a kind of purgatory, emotional and energy hibernation. A dull monotony, a sleepless dreamlike trance.

Then I think about those days. Coldness envelopes the sky, spring so far away you forget what the sun's warmth feels like. Yearning to grip an oar blade once more. Then, I ski down a hill and for just a moment I forget it all.