Is winter something you tolerate, can't stand or enjoy? (buying a house, buying)

[MtnSurfer]

On this last day of winter, I'm curious about WA CD'ers experience is with it. Do you go into hibernation of sorts with the various activities you normally enjoy? Since we have a wide variety of participants from natives, to long time residents and newbies, it would be good to know how many winters you've lived here.

This is my fourth winter and I generally tolerate winter for the most part. There are certain things I enjoy such as paddling on the glassy waters of our lakes and rivers on the nicer weather days. When the sun comes out, its feels glorious even if only for a short time. The longer periods without sun and colder temps combined with shortest days are the part I dislike the most. And while I wouldn't say I experience SAD in a extreme way, I think it definitely affect my mood. I'm also not a psychologist, but have read it affects the general population to varying degrees. My coping mechanisms really help which include getting outside as much as possibly even if raining along with winter warm-up trips.

All this to say, I always appreciate the end of winter as spring approaches and things begin to warm up.

Derek

[Diana Holbrook]

I guess I landed on "tolerate" but I considered saying "enjoy".

I mostly just think of winter as something that doesn't need my approval.... it just "is". If we didn't have winter, we wouldn't have tall trees and green ferns and plenty of water to get us through the summer.

So I don't often consider whether I like it.... I'd have to tolerate it either way. It just is.

[otterhere]

I find cold weather invigorating and snow and ice, beautiful; it's a magical time of year. I also enjoy spring, fall, and summer to a degree, no pun intended. I can sit out on the porch with a cold drink and read a book when it's 110 heat index, but my favorite hobby, hiking, is a little more challenging in that weather, and it goes on a little too long where I live. Yes, I hike all winter; that's the best time for it! Overall, I find something to love in ALL the seasons, and I would personally be bored in a location that was always the same: sunny and warm.

[arleigh]

I enjoy winter,
Most of the time it is easy to get warm, but when it is hot there is only so much you can do to cool off.
Longer nights are fine with me, a great many of my different jobs required night work. I Cary a flashlight all the time due to having to work in dark places any way as a mechanic, and I prefer traveling at night and in challenging weather as well.

[Hemlock140]

I really do enjoy winter. My only real complaint is when we get a fairly heavy snow on a day when I have to go somewhere, but that's rare, and because we are high up so it's all down hill. The brief respite with warmer sunny weather like we had Saturday is far more special when the rest of the week was wet and cold.

[rantiquity]

Where I live on the Olympic peninsula in Western Washington and in a maritime climate and we get very little snow, sometimes none at all. So winter for the most part is not a major problem for me.

First day of Spring and its partly cloudy and some sunshine. Typical day this time of the year on the Peninsula.

[DallasYankee]

For me, finally escaping the brutally arid Colorado Winter was essential to my very survival!
This is the first in 13 years that I didn't have to contend with 50–60-degree daily shifts in temperature along with the ever changing and dreaded barometric pressure. Add to that excessive sun nearly every day and it was logical I was frequently miserable.
When the sun does come out here, which is surprisingly often in my opinion, it is welcome and warming in a positive way.
I no longer dread to peek outside to see mounds of snow and/or blinding sun - instead, it is usually at least semi- or partly - cloudy. And that suits me perfectly.
In fact, on a somewhat humorous note, I have to donate or dispose of my unused and unopened Yves Rocher 100 Beige foundations as they are now too dark for my peaches and creme complexion - only the alternate YR 50 Beige is light enough for me at present and I am quite content with that new fact : that means little chance of skin cancer. (Don't worry, I still wear 40+SPF most days, LOL!)
So, for me Washington winters are wonderful! (Now if only the traffic and COL were half as good, we might consider buying a house here but that is only wishful thinking.)

[jacqueg]

I find I am pretty much always ready for whatever season is up next by the time it comes around, with the exception of summer. If I didn't enjoy the rain and snow, I wouldn't bother to be here!

I'm pretty much a fulltime traveler these days, but my longterm goal is to get my van ready for staying longer in Washington in the fall. I like to get a couple of real winter storms under my belt by the time I leave for the desert.

If I had a larger vehicle, I'd go for trying to stay through the winter, but I don't really want a larger vehicle - gas is too expensive...

[poncho62]

I like the different seasons, probably enjoy spring and fall the most. Just as I tolerate being cold, I don't especially like the hot/humid summer either.

[MechAndy]

I fall somewhere between tolerating and enjoying the winter but closer to tolerating than enjoying.
We don’t really have snow as an issue here where I live but we have other issues.

The one thing I don’t much care for is the mud and salt building up on my car.
I even want to make a sprinkler chinga that I can drive over to clean my cars undercarriage.

Having slippery icy decks does tend to suck at my age as well.

Our tides are reversed in the winter meaning our low tides are at night rather than in the daylight hours.
Low tides are just so much nicer and I can enjoy them more in the daylight hours.

As long as we are in the 40’s I’m fine.
My ideal preferred temps are mid 60’s to low 70’s.
80’s and above not so much unless I’m boating.

The summer where we live is the prize though.
It is flat out one of the nicest places on earth because of that.