Winter is coming

We're finally getting there to that time of year when being tucked into the warm pocket of your blankets is the most comfortable you'll be all day. The temperature keeps creeping downward with fewer days like today ahead and clothing stored since spring returns.
I really like winter. I like the silence of falling snow, the stillness of a frozen landscape. I like the warm winter drinks of cider, hot chocolate, and tea and drinking them under a thick quilt. I like feeling my skin pink in response to the cold and seeing that reflected in the faces of people outside too. But I don't like the ice, the slush, the black and grey grit and dust that becomes painfully visible against the white of the snow. I don't like hearing everyone and myself sniffling their way through colds, facing waking up another morning in the dark, wearing layers and layers of trapping clothing (especially scarves). And I think winter is too long here. The cold overstays its welcome and makes us beg for the thaw of spring and warmth of summer and the cloudy skies makes us long for sunny days.
I am not ready for winter. I never am. Fall is fine and I wish the seasons would end there for my personal comfort. Spring would be so much nicer if the melting snow did not make a quagmire of the ground and flood walkways and streets.