Is it just me or does it feel much later than it is?

@Royrogers See, THIS is what I call advice. Mulled wine eh? How good is that to regular wine? I've never tried it but considering it. Christmas Pudding either you like it or hate it deal? Acquired taste?

@stratosranger Thank Christ I have the exercise on the horizon. picking out my program and looking to start again tomorrow, with my lovely new blackout blinds for maximum privacy / efficiency.

@SW-User ikr winter sucks balls! ✌️

@SW-User I don't know what all this suction stuff is meant to mean.

I am perfectly well aware of Winter's hazards. Some people become clinically depressed by (not merely fed up with) the few months of long, dark nights. Winter weather can seriously damage and disruption human property and activities. Lengthy exposure to cold even above 0ºC can kill but many people can barely afford to heat their homes - and cases of exposure leading to fatal hypothermia do occur.

Nevertheless Winter is Winter, part of Nature. We cannot do anything about it save only protect ourselves as best we can from some of its effects - and enjoy its positive aspects.

How many of those moaning about the Northern latitudes Winter go and send Christmas cards with bucolic, snow-draped, sentimental paintings of 19C Winter scenes?

I am damned sure none of us would have liked to have lived in those times and conditions. The mail-coaches in many of those pictures could be and sometimes were death-traps in snow. We cannot really moan these days when we demand a Full Judge-led Public Inquiry the moment an ice-jammed point delays our commuting in heated trains to heated offices. Although to be fair, not all those delayed commuters are company-lawyers, theatre-luvvies and hedge-fund traders: many others are in vital roles like teaching, nursing and other public-services.

+++

So less of the moaning!

Yes, the electricity and gas bills go up, you need protect yourself sensibly from the season's genuine hazards; but otherwise, take Winter as it comes and value the seasons!

Yes of course I like the longer daylight of Summer but I like the seasonal contrasts and the different views of the landscape or sea-scape (both are not far from me).

I like the simple truth that though we might see the English countryside in Winter as chilly, soggy and rather bedraggled, it is simply snoozing until Spring. Not totally asleep though. The hibernating animals are saving energy while food is scarce. The nutrients in decaying material on the ground are being quietly salvaged ready for Spring. Oh yes, the snoozing is vital for its fauna and flora. Wildlife at any latitude is attuned to and needs the seasonal effects of its own latitude.*

As for "Roll on Summer"... followed in Autumn by "Can't wait for Christmas!"......why wish your life away?

''''

*(Southern England's Lizard peninsula toe is just below 50º North: roughly the latitude of Southern Canada and Northern Mongolia!)

@ArishMell Cheers, Confucious.