On Time and Seasons

So here's my obligatory 'sorry I haven't been updating' post. I have no reason not to update, just winter malaise, I guess. I probably have a serious lack of Vitamin D from being nocturnal. I should look into taking supplements or something. I really think that there is something programmed into me that drives me to stay up late into the night. Even as a kid I liked staying up late and my whole school career I got my best work done way after midnight. I think part of it is the season and the cold. In the summer I want to be awake and outside as much as possible. I get so happy when I think about this summer. Being outdoors all the time, camping every night, having an excuse to go a few days without showering. I love the sounds and the smell of the summer. I hope one day I love the winter, fall, and spring even half as much as I love the summer. Living in Blacksburg the past few years, I honestly have developed an appreciation of the seasons. I used to think that people were full of it when they said "oh, I love seasons." Maybe I still think that's crap, how can you LOVE the winter? I guess you could say that I'm at peace with it because there is no alternative to surviving through it. Because I want to get to summer so badly, and the summer won't get here unless I tolerate winter and spring first. Maybe if I skied, snowboarded, ice fished, etc, then I wouldn't mind it as much. However, growing up in a warmer climate has taught me that winter is for staying inside and eating soup rather than hitting the slopes. I went skiing once, in Colorado, and I think it was the most fun I could ever possibly have doing anything outside in the winter. It was amazing and beautiful and I don't think that I ever need to try it again. Ha.
So working out has been going smoothly. I'm not one of those people with a super-packed schedule that has to squeeze in gym time. I'm lucky enough to have free time every day and I can work out as much as I want. Somebody asked me last night how training was going and I said "I'm sore all the time. So good, I guess." It got warm for a couple of days here but I still have yet to take my new bike out for a spin. I spent so much time and money on it I'm scared that I'm going to hit a patch of ice or get salt in the gears. I'm sure I'm going to beat it up enough on this trip the summer, but right now it's nice to see it all pretty and shiny in the living room. I guess I'm just making excuses, the real reason is that I can't convince myself to ride unless it's over 50 degrees.
I took the dog for a walk yesterday around campus and town because it was "nice" and "warm" out. I realized that my sense of what these words mean might be a bit skewed when I saw a guy cross country skiing beside the path I was walking on. It's been so cold in this town recently that what we think is a beautiful, warm weather is actually still cold enough to be able to cross country ski. Sigh.

"In a way, winter is the real spring. The time when inner things happen. The resurgence of nature."
-Edna O'Brien, Irish novelist