prepping for winter
how this californian is attempting to prepare (and needs your help, pls!)
As you may know, I’m a bit anxious about the cold and dark winter ahead. Recently, I wrote a text to a raised-on-the-east-coast friend asking for recommendations for winter essentials, (both emotional ones and product recs), and her responses made me feel a lot better. So I’m here today, asking the same of all of you (if you’ll have me!).
In case it’s not abundantly obvious - I am 1. a planner, 2. from coastal California. It is pretty much always cold in California, and by this I mean it is the same temperature inside your house as it is outside, and the nights always drop in temperature, often in the 40s year round and the 30s in winter. But it’s never really really cold - the places I’ve lived have never really seen snow - plenty of frost, though. I can recall using my student ID to scrape the frost off our windshield at 645am so we could get to our “zero period” (← lol, what a scam) in high school, but that’s the closest I’ve come to shoveling snow.
Now that we live in Western Massachusetts, where the winters are in the 10s-30s (-12c-0c), a new strategy is needed.
This is my growing list of ideas for surviving thriving in winter, and I’d love yours! Please share - I am desperate for advice from seasoned winter-ers.
being the absolute nerd that i am, I started a notion table with some contenders for products I’m thinking* about getting to ease the impact of the weather on my body (that has lots of columns like budget & deadline for acquiring to stop me from the endless research cycle I am prone to, as you know).
*since drafting this, I went ahead and got the gardana clogs but in a closed version (so far, very happy with them! my friend told me they give “keebler elf vibes” and I love that). I also found a great deal on a red stutterheim rain slicker on TheRealReal and it’s hefty, but so far it’s held up well in a rainy walk to the library & it dried quickly after.
merino/silk base layers. this was a game changer when I started wearing them back in Hobart, but I’m in the market for a couple more layers to wear under everything, all the time. Merino camis, merino undies, and potentially a pair of lightweight (and light-colored, for wearability under dresses) leggings.
candles, everywhere, all the time. I’ve invested in some of my favs and am hoping to make more when we start to run out. I unpacked the candle-making supply box and tucked it all safely in the linen closet.
tea blends - starting with what I have, and then making my own, with the herbs I have both foraged and bought (rose hips, lemon balm, chamomile, lemongrass, oatstraw, nettle, raspberry leaf).
taking a bioregional herbalism class to learn more about plant medicine making.
being flexible about my working schedule. maybe it will look like getting up early & starting my workday in the dark so I can end it at 3 or 4, or maybe it will look like starting late, taking a long break before sunset, and logging back on to finish the day. I’m not sure how this will feel in practice, so I’m preparing to experiment and be vocal with my employer about when I’ll need time away from work.
planning trips to see family. josh & I will be back in CA for thanksgiving and I’m scheming my birthday party with all the folks we didn’t get to say goodbye to because we got covid the week before we moved (womp womp).
staying committed to my bodily movement practice. this varies day to day, but involves listening to my body, and then doing what I’m hearing it wants. some days this is a 15 min run, some days it’s a little guided workout/stretching routine, other days it’s an extra 30 min laying in bed. the only goal is to be responsive & not dogmatic, but still committed.
getting a membership at the ymca (a 15ish min walk from our new place) so that I can swim in warm water, maybe take a couple of weight lifting classes, and most importantly, use the sauna & hot tub.
trying out a more intentional morning routine that perhaps involves candle light & tea, rather than a phone alarm and immediate internet time.
letting myself get distracted, but seeing if having a craft project at hand helps move that distraction offline (so far, it does).
what about you? how are you preparing for the winter ahead?
noticing and doing
rhinebeck! the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival was a busy, adorable, affirming event. here are some snaps - me in my ‘rhinebeck sweater’ that i finished the morning of the event, and some sneaky snaps of people whose style I thought was particularly amazing.
we moved into our house in western mass, and wowee, it is just so much more work than I ever anticipated to make a house feel like a home from scratch. feeling grateful, buzzing, and exhausted. it will take a long time to paint it all, but we have officially painted our room & moved into it! hooray :,)
it is PEAK leaf peeping season & I am thrilled. tho amazingly difficult to convey through a screen, these leaves are the highlight of my month.
sending autumnal, wooly love x
EMBRACE THE DARKNESS, DEAR SISTER. IT WILL DELIVER YOU TO BIG THYME CRONE ENERGIES. Well, at least, that's what I do.
Ani, this felt so relatable as someone who has just moved to Norway (!)
From the things gleaned visiting my partner's family here through the years in winter (and from the early days of this winter), I echo all of the above - a lot of tea and herbal medicine, candles and warm blankets indoors to really soften into the season. Flexible working is a blessing, as getting outside in the day time is hugely beneficial. I second the sauna if possible! I've taken it one step further with winter swims, but I appreciate that's an acquired taste, and also requires an acclimatisation period which has probably passed, at least for this year. Maybe something for next winter?
Clothes wise, many thin layers will do wonders. Siskin have absolutely exquisite wool and silk undergarnments - I swear by their turtlenecks and leggings, which I layer under my usual clothes. They're not cheap, but I wear them almost daily and they're holding up incredibly well. I'm not sure if they're sold in the US (MamaOwl is my go-to UK/EU stockist).
I plan to knit a few silk mohair cardigans and jumpers as they're thin and will comfortably fit under thicker woolier ones, as well as more hats/scarves/gloves so I have a slightly more enticing collection to choose from. Good leather boots with a sheepskin insole, and good grip on the soles for any icy walks are also a great investment!
All of this is also reminding me - vitamin D supplements are probably a really good idea (from someone with a chronic deficiency). Craft projects, good friends, near and far, a cool partner: also great and important things to get through long winters!
I hope you can lean into it, and can perhaps even find some joy in places - good luck!