How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz, PhD

I finished reading this book the first week of January, during our coldest stretch of winter so far. I’ve tried to get outside for more seasonal activities this winter, as I wasn’t looking forward to the dark and cold. We’ve had a few snows, but not enough to shovel, or to sled, snowshoe, or cross-country ski. The author grew up in New Jersey, then went south to Atlanta for college, where she studied psychology.

Wanting to study winter mindsets, she headed to the University of Tromso, in northern Norway, where winter is embraced, even during the long polar night. She has since spent time in winter in Finland, Amsterdam, Iceland, the Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland, Yamagata, Japan, and Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. Being active outdoors in winter is covered, as is being cozy indoors, exemplified by the Scandinavian concept of hygge. She learned that a positive winter mindset can help, along with the right clothing and footwear, local winter-themed activities and festivals to attend, but also infrastructure such as heated sidewalks, lighted ski trails, plowed bike lanes and streets. For coziness, candles, fires, heated patios with blankets, saunas, hot baths, and for outdoors, even winter swimming. The author also discusses climate change and how that’s affecting cities and regions that embrace winter. I live in the Midwest and observed less snow overall and fewer days for activities like sledding and snowshoeing. If you don’t live in a snowy area, the author encourages winter tourism, which is promoted by the Twin Cities in Minnesota and in Edmonton, Alberta.

This is an engaging, worthwhile read. I don’t know if it’s changed my winter mindset, but I have been appreciating winter skies and scenery more, and find that going for a walk on a chilly day can be invigorating and pleasant, but am still avoiding outdoor activities on very cold days or nights. I did learn that sandhill cranes are still migrating south in early January; perhaps I haven’t been outside enough in past years to hear their distinctive calls. I have also enjoyed more evenings with a group of LED candles adding ambience, even while doing a little garden planning for spring.

Brenda