Aside from a two-day period of low temperatures, high winds, and biting cold (it was so windy on one of those days that I was almost knocked over by a particularly vicious gust and I’m difficult to even stagger, let alone topple), it has been a fairly mild December so far. Most days, the temperature spends a decent chunk of the day above freezing, there’s some sunlight, and my wall AC/Heater unit is enough to keep my apartment comfortable against the chill. Sure, we’ve had an oddly rainy and grey parcel of days lately, with occasional periods of snow sprinkled in for flavor, but it’s been kind of nice, especially compared to last year. Last year, it was so windy and cold that it permanently damaged the aircraft transportation network in the US (and almost made me miss my trip to Spain due to the cascading ripples of the week that so many flights were cancelled rather than rescheduled). This chilly, wet, and sunless weather might not be welcome, but it sure beats the pants off how awful last it was this time last year. I actually had to buy firewood and go through my plans for what to do if I lost power because I’m pretty sure my apartment would have frozen if I’d lost my ability to heat it against that drafty cold. So I can put up with this, even if I’d probably be better insulated against the cold and wind in my current apartment than I ever could have been in my previous one.

The long-term forecasts for my area are calling for a fairly mild start to winter, with a bit of a drop in temperatures and potential increase in precipitation as the season winds down in February (which is probably not going to make up for the ongoing draught in south-central Wisconsin), but we’ve had enough variability in weather patterns over the past couple years that I’m not sure I trust them. I mean, the broad-strokes, long-term forecasts tend to be more accurate than the day-to-day predictions we usually make our plans around, but even those feel like they’re starting to lose some ground to the growing chaos resulting from climate change. They’re not entirely useless yet, but I worry that they’re going to become less and less reliable. It probably wouldn’t impact my life that much right now if the long-term forecasts stopped being useful, but it really isn’t a great sign for the health of the world that all our weather science is starting to fail us because we’ve fucked up the weather so badly that our science can’t keep up with how much it’s changing.

Regardless of the reason, I’m trying to make the best of it and enjoy the mild start to the winter we’ve had. As much as I’m prepared to bundle up against the cold for my daily walks, I don’t really like being that heavily dressed. I’ll put up with it enough to get my daily walk in because walking around my office in a mask is even less comfortable than dressing up so heavily that I have to pivot my whole torso to look around since I can’t turn my head without getting hair, scarf fuzz, or too much cold in my mouth. This year, though, I’ve only had to dress that heavily a handful of times and the forecast is telling me, for the next ten days at least, I probably won’t have to. I prefer being able to expose more of my skin to absorb whatever sunlight I can get through the clouds when I’ve got the chance. After all, these walks are the main thing preventing my Seasonal Affective Disorder from sending me into a winter depression spiral. Sure, I could bust out the SAD lamps again, but I really prefer getting myself moving every day to sleepily basking in an incredibly bright light every morning or evening. Why do something with only one benefit when you can do something with multiple benefits? It’s just more efficient.

So as much as the weather is mildly concerning, I’m just trying to enjoy the first winter since 2019 that I haven’t had to struggle to stay warm (or pay an exorbitant electrical bill). It’s such a relief to not need to be constantly monitoring the temperature, feeling for gusts of wind through the drafty windows, or trying to figure out how much more heat I need to push into my apartment in order to keep myself and my pet bird from getting too cold. It was so much work to monitor my heat since I needed to keep it low enough that I wouldn’t bankrupt myself by tripling my electricity bill but high enough to survive and the entire premise of that effort is stressful all on it own. It’s just so relieving to be comfortable and to not need to worry about it at all since the weather is so mild.

Which seems to be a theme in my life. I spent a year in college struggling to afford enough food and now I really appreciate just having food around and being able to easily get fresh fruit and vegetables. I spent three years struggling to stay warm half the year and suddenly I appreciate not feeling the wind blowing through my apartment and how little effort it takes to stay comfortable. Amazing, what a little experience and perspective can do for you.