How to survive January weather??

     Today is cold, rainy, gray. Yesterday was cold, rainy, gray, as was the day before and the day before that. January in Indiana is cold, often rainy and usually gray. Sometimes we are blessed with snow, sometimes we are cursed with ice.  Once in a great while the sun comes out. But not often. People in Indiana sometimes refer to Florida as Indiana's "Lower Peninsula" because so many people travel down there this time of year. And who can blame them-- we haven't seen the sun in weeks here and I miss it. I'm even getting grouchy about it.

     There are colder, grayer places than here. And occasionally these places not just learn to live in the gray coldness, they embrace it. Last year we found such a place-- Door County, Wisconsin. If you look at a map of the US, Door County is that little strip of a peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan on the west side of the lake. Green Bay, home of the infamous football team, is located here. It is renowned for scenery and water sports in the summer and cold, bad weather in the winter. They have a Winter Festival in Door County every year. Last year we traveled up there to go to the festival, and we discovered how many people not just survive a harsh winter, but enjoy it to the max!

     We stayed in a bed and breakfast and had a fireplace in our room, which made for a very cozy retreat.

We took long underwear, wool socks, heavy jackets, hats and gloves, and ventured out to see what there was to see. The little town of Fish Creek offers up weekend winter games unlike any we'd ever seen-- bicycle tossing and human foosball out on the frozen bay were both offered. There were a couple bonfires closeby and plenty of hot chocolate vendors for spectators. The locals were out in force, all competing in one event or another, and having a great time.  There were snowmobiles buzzing all around too, and even a trolley that perked along taking spectators from one location to another. We had a lot of fun watching them all have fun-- people watching mostly, as our bicycle tossing was a little, um... rusty. We window shopped and enjoyed some delicacies from a local candy store.

     We took a horse-drawn sleigh to tour the wine country that took us through the woods, with two handsome Percheron horses merrily jingling their bells as they stepped lively along the trail. We toured 4 wineries and visited the tasting rooms of all of them, so we were as warm inside as it was cold outside. It all was quite merry, despite a cold, gray sky and stiff wind off the lake and bay.

One morning we got up and drove out to where a lighthouse was supposed to be-- we had to hike out across a sand bar in the lake, which was exposed and frozen over, to get to the lighthouse. It was worth the trip-- what a quiet, frozen but beautiful place it was. Only the sound of the wind and our own breathing, as the lake "waves" had frozen months before.

     We attended a Door County traditional dinner-- a fish boil. These dinners are cooked in a huge pot over an open outdoor fire. Lake Michigan white fish and potatoes are put in the kettle that is then filled with water. The pot is boiled for some time, and then, just before it is "served" the cook stokes the fire so it gets very, very hot. The pot boils over, spilling fish oil onto the fire, which then flares up in what was described as a huge conflagration. Once the stunning display of heat and flame subsides, the pot is hauled inside, and the fish and potatoes are served with cole slaw and cherry pie. While the promised conflagration was not nearly as stunning as I'd envisioned, the fish was delicious. And standing around outside in the cold with the fire on one side of us and the freezing cold on the other was fun. We were invigorated when we went inside to dine.

     This year I find myself thinking about that weekend trip, and wishing we had gone up there again. We had discovered that it was absolutely possible to not just survive cold gray days, but to celebrate during them. I am challenged this year to find ways to celebrate the cold and gray that has returned. It is supposed to snow tonight and I am actually looking forward to that. Maybe a fresh clean layer of snow will invigorate my spirits!  If not, there is always the movie matinee...