Wrestling With Winter

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, marking the beginning of winter. And already I am Done. Finished. Terminated.

This year I thought I would beat winter at its own game so, back in October, I booked an appointment to get my snow tires changed on November 20th. Do you remember what happened on the evening of November 19th? SNOW – a big dump of it. In the morning I was torn: should I take a chance on driving unprotected to the dealership on snowy streets, or should I give up my appointment and take another one, much later? I downed a couple of cups of strong coffee before I was brave enough to head out.

Next, with my snow tires safely installed, I started getting out the winter clothes. Peter’s sweaters had all shrunk in the closet, and my pants had grown 2 sizes bigger. How could this have happened? Then I checked the outdoor stuff and found missing mittens, gloves with holes, scarves frayed around the edges, and coats dirty. My favourite winter boots were worn out, with no grip left on the soles. How could I have left things in such a mess back in the Spring? Then I remembered a very busy April that somehow morphed into Summer without me even noticing.

Finally it was time to deal with the duvet on the bed. During the warmer months we have a colourful lightweight bedspread covering a thin blanket, and together they make a perfect pair for spring and summer temperatures. But in the winter we get out the heavy artillery: a goose-down duvet that fits inside a recently-washed cover, HOW the duvet gets inside the cover is another matter.

For the last few years I have wrestled with this duvet by myself, trying to shove and tug it up from the opening at the bottom of the cover all the way to the top. I would sometimes foolishly climb inside the cover, only to discover that I was now lying on top of the duvet and there was no way it was moving. Then I would climb back outside and try to pull the cover down in the opposite direction, But my arms weren’t long enough to push and pull at the same time. Next I would try coaxing: “Come on you duvet, get up here!” Now dear readers, don’t laugh – I know you have talked to your linens too.

So this year I called for help. Peter looked at me with amusement. How can a silly duvet cause so much aggravation? Well he was going to find out.

I had already given him a head start. I had spread the cover across the top of the bed, neatly folded accordion-style, and placed the duvet at the bottom of the bed, also folded. All we had to do was get on either side of the bed so we could pull and shove together. Easy Peasy. It started out well – until we got about half-way. Then neither part would go any farther. They were at a standoff. Peter looked puzzled for a moment. Then he barked: “STEP ASIDE!”

With his arms spread wide, he somehow grabbed both the duvet and the cover with his large hands and began waving them and down, up and down, up and down. Slowly, centimeter, by centimeter, the two pieces came together, one over the other. Hallelujah! We did a high five in celebration. I surveyed the final look. Perfect. Almost…

Then I noticed that I had forgotten to put on the bed-skirt. There, below the nicely covered duvet, the bare legs of the bed were sticking out. Aggghhh!!! And Peter? He was running for his favourite living room chair.

Sue

PS dear readers: there is One really good thing about winter – it begins with the holiday season. Whether you are celebrating Kwanza, Hannukah, or Christmas, I wish you all the best.

The duvet, nicely covered,

and Daisy the teddy bear waiting for Spring.