Reverb 2016 - Cozy

Cozy // Some of us live on the Tundra, while others live where the tumbleweeds roll.  Either way, we still have to nest when December rolls around.  What keeps you cozy through the wintertime?

Winters in the PNW have been a transition for me from Colorado living. Although I haven’t spent a full winter in Denver in almost a decade, the lack of solid transitions in the PNW still confuses me. Summer, warm and dry, slides abruptly into fall, colorful and wet. Which only differs from winter in the presence of leaves. Cold and wet marches on until a brief colorful and wet spring signals the coming short summer. The nine to ten months of wet (with and without color) have a particular chill as the humidity of the PNW holds the cold in. I would take a sunny, freezing day in Colorado, which beckons you outside to play in snow and the sun warms your soul through the puffy layers. The nights were downright cold, but nothing a blanket, tea, and fire couldn’t solve.

The same blanket, tea, and fire warm us here. But instead of below zero temps, 45 degrees feels cold and miserable. Everything is wet. The days are particularly short, and the sun won’t be seen for months. It just feels drab. But cozy helps.

Cozy in the form of a cat snuggled up and purring next to me. Cozy in the form of a sleeping toddler, worn out from the day of chasing around classmates at daycare, cuddled on my chest, with sweet baby breath wafting up. Cozy in the form of a fireplace and warm cocktail, warming me from the outside and inside. And cozy in the form of stew simmering away in the crockpot so all I have to do after a cold and wet commute is pop off my wellies and dish up a bowl.

Cozy is family. Cozy is home.