I鈥檇 been living in California, where a phrase like 鈥渋t鈥檚 freezing鈥� merely meant a mad rush to get the warmest sweater possible. So when I told my friends I was moving to Vermont, they warned me it would be cold, really cold. I could handle 鈥渃old,鈥� I told them.They weren鈥檛 convinced. They told me that in Vermont it snows in May. I laughed, thinking I knew a silly exaggeration when I heard one. Our first winter here was the coldest Vermont had had in 21 years. The next was the coldest in 22 years.
So I developed a strategy for staying warm. I dressed in tons of layers: tank-top, t-shirt, flannel shirt, long johns, lined jeans, sweater, jacket, hat, gloves, and scarf. And if it dipped below 50 degrees, I just added more layers.
I made time to ski, snowshoe, and take long walks outside. And because I refused to let the weather rule my mood, the indoor tennis gym became my friend and I took up Zumba. Now I鈥檓 a Zumba instructor. Staying home with Netflix and cocoa helped, too at times - just not exclusively.
Then, just as I鈥檇 figured out how to survive winter, spring arrived, which I learned in Vermont is all about melting and mud and sunshine, and then hail, and then some more sunshine, and a whole lot more mud, making April, if not quite the cruelest month, as T.S. Eliot would have it, at least unsettling.
But Vermont is now my home 鈥� for 17 years and counting. And that鈥檚 partly because I couldn鈥檛 change the harsh weather; but I could change my attitude. By embracing what Vermont and life was handing me, I became happier. For me, not having a choice gave me the opportunity to just say 鈥測es,鈥� even to the crazy weather swings.
After moving to Vermont, winter became my favorite season. And it still is. And oh, that the first year we moved to Vermont, I went skiing at Killington on May 10th.
