Oh, and “A Christmas Story” with Ralphie.
Bing Crosby and Doris Day singing “Baby, it’s cold outside.”
LOVE
Watching the snow fall, gently turning the whole world a pristine white
Setting the Christmas lights all around the house… and swtiching on 
Cups of hot chocolate at any time of day
Seeing the birds eating the stuff I’ve left on the bird table for them
Watching the squirrels eat the stuff I’ve left on the ground for them
Christmas lunch and get togethers with family and friends
HATE
Wrapping presents, but I don’t mind buying them.
Driving in a heavy snow storm
Love:
Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners
Snowshoeing
Brilliant sun on sparkly snow (it gets less attractive come February/March)
The occasional trip outside AK to see green
Iditarod dogs
Hate:
-Winter clothing, especially bulky coats. I feel like I’m constantly fighting with them.
-Having the heat on in the house, which turns my skin into leather, requiring frequent applications of lotion, which I also hate.
-Work lethargy, which lasts from Thanksgiving until after New Years. Literally nothing gets done.
Love/Hate:
-Breakup: a gigantic mess, but spring is coming
Wow; you guys have reminded me of even more things I love about winter. There’s no feeling in the world like waking up Sunday morning to a massive snowstorm going on and curling back up in your warm bed with your snuggly partner beside you, with nothing to do and nowhere to go that day.
I don’t go often (or at all, really), but I’ll add snowmobiling to my list of loves. What a rush!
Spoons, I was out last night, and with all the light reflecting with the snow and all, it was so light I could have read outside. So strange.
Hate: slush, slippery icy roads, frostbite (not being able to feel my nose or ears), bulky mitts and scarves.
Love: a soft white snowfall, hot cocoa, skating, cross-country skiing, frost patterns on the window, icicles, Christmas lights, snowball fights, snowmen…
Hate:
Anything having to do with driving.
The sounds and fumes of snowblowers – although these aren’t as odious or ubiquitous as that of the leafblowers of fall.
Winter laundry. I have a few favorite sweaters, turtlenecks, that I like to wear all the time, but I don’t like not laundering them for months at a time. The problem is that it’s hard to get them to dry properly during the winter (you absolutely can’t put them in a dryer) when you keep the thermostat low. I have one of those mesh dryer thingies that you spread the sweater out on to air-dry, but they still stay damp for too long. Maybe I should just wash the neck area and the ends of the sleeves and leave the rest for spring cleaning…
Love:
The sounds of winter: happy neighborhood kids sledding, throwing snowballs, shrieking with delight; the crunchy sounds of walking through snow; the muffled quality of sounds during a nice snowfall.
Feeding the birds. Granted, this can be a year-round thing for some, but it’s in the winter that the little birdies benefit most from your handout. (And they’re such cute little fluffballs, too, with their downy feathers fluffed out for maximum insulation!)
Window views framed by icicles.
Being warmly bundled up – especially in a favorite sweater that smells fresh!
Lots of hot teas and hot soups.
The NFL playoffs and NCAA college bowl games!
Love
Being the first awake, building a fire in the stove, striking that match, hearing it scrape in the silence of the very early morning. Listening to it catch and crackle as it takes. The warmth spreading, the aroma, handling the wood. A small and ritualistic act to start the day, so rewarding.
Coming into a home with a roaring fire on a cold quiet snowy night.
When my city gets buffeted by lake effect snow from both directions. They close the city and don’t send out the plows. Everyone goes home to wait it out. One tiny little act of nature and you can suddenly feel a difference in the air as the city unites. And, as one, we drift back to an earlier time, on every side we are reaching out to care for our neighbours and those around us. This happens without instruction, spontaneously acts of great kindness abound creating a very different world for a few brief hours. You can almost taste compassion in the air. I love it. Bad weather? I’m always pulling for the snow!
Hate:
Sometimes the weather gets down to 83 degrees
Love:
Asking friends and family on the mainland “How’s the weather”?
Hate:
[ul]
[li]Hazardous driving conditions[/li][li]Scraping ice off my windows[/li][li]Colds[/li][li]Dry skin[/li][li]Static electricity[/li][li]Higher energy bills (heating)[/li][/ul]
Love:
[ul]
[li]I’m not sweating profusely. I can always bundle up when it’s too cold but when it’s too hot outside there’s no way to be comfortable, no matter how little one is wearing.[/li][li]Christmas and Christmas lights.[/li][li]Fresh fallen snow. It pretties up an otherwise drab landscape.[/li][li]Hot chocolate[/li][li]Fewer pesky insects (no bees, wasps, hornets, yellowjackets, yeah!)[/li][li]Skiing, playing in the snow[/li][li]The sun doesn’t come up so damn early and disrupt my sleep.[/li][li]When I was in school, the Christmas break[/li][/ul]
Oh yeah, I should have said - no gloating from people living in the Tropics.
(Oh, the static electricity. I should buy stocks in the company that makes Static Guard. I do hate my pants clinging to my legs.)
Get out of town! On June 21 in northern Germany it gets dark by 10pm, and you’re telling daylight lasts until 9 in Florida?
I’m not sure whether you’re being sarcastic or what, but I’m not fond of 16 hours from twilight to twilight, and that’s all I was sharing.
Hate: all the idiots from more northern climes who start bitching about how we don’t really have winter “out here.” If you love a “real winter” that much, why the hell did you move to southern California? Quit complaining or move back to New York or Jersey or wherever the hell you’re from. We HAVE seasons, moron; don’t act all superior because you had to walk through five feet of snow, uphill both ways, just to get to school.
HATE
I don’t like winter. I hate being cold. The older I get, the more it affects my joints. I miss the vegetation. I miss fresh fruits and vegetables.
DON’T MIND
The sky at night is clearer. When I’m in the country and I walk out on a moonless night, the sky is littered with sparkly little diamonds.
Still, frosty mornings. There’s a stillness on some cold mornings that you just don’t get any other time.
Hate
- Cycling on cold rainy days.
- Getting stuck riding the motorcycle in the rain.
- Dealing with people who can’t drive in the rain.
- Rain drops on the glasses.
- Wrapping presents (for some reason, I have the hardest time getting presents wrapped decently :smack: )
- Being alone during the holidays for the first time in over a decade.
Love
- Seeing the leaves turn color.
- Christmas songs and putting up lights.
- People seem to be a nicer and more polite during the holiday season.
- Women wearing boots.
- Giving presents.
- Not having to swim in the off season
Love:
Woodsmoke on the air.
Walking at night through fresh snowfall.
Hot chocolate mit Schnapps.
Hate:
Cold and Flu Season.
Cheesy holiday everything.
Overheated buildings, houses, public transit, etc.
Ooh, I’d forgotten about the overheated buildings - shopping is virtually unendurable in winter - you’re bundled up head to toe, and you go into the stores and they’re blazing hot. You pretty much have to go in with Gatorade and make sure you stay hydrated.
I also love wearing my bitchin’ hiking boots.
Love:
SKIING!
Being able to wear my winter coats.
Going sledding with friends.
The pristine look of the neighborhood after fresh fallen snow.
Drinking brandy Alexanders (they’re NOT summer drinks).
Hot chocolate.
The cats like to curl up more because it’s cold.
The smell of fireplaces in the air.
Scarves.
Finally being cool enough (I think I’m part polar bear).
Vacation (the best way to tolerate northern winters - take a southern holiday :))
Hate:
When it gets TOO cold (below zero - makes my forehead hurt) and I’m not dressed for it.
Black ice.
The endless holiday droning.
The unpredictability of weather if I take one of those southern vacations.
People who incessantly bitch about how much they hate winter (if you hate it so much, there are warmer states).
Guess I’m just plain weird. Take almost any love/hate list in this thread and turn it upside down …
Love
Driving in:
Ice
Snow.
Fog.
Subzero Temperatures.
Blizzards.
Pretty much all hazardous winter driving conditions. (Professional Driver here. The greater the challenge, the greater the pride.)
Knowing when it’s time to chain up, or just shut the rig down because conditions warrant it.
Passing all those truckers who do not know how or are too lazy to chain up their rigs (or too stupid to have chains on board their rig even though they know their route will take them through places that have snow in winter) parked in the chain-up areas or hiding in the truck stops when the first 22 flakes of snow hit the road. (Second thought, maybe it’s better that they do - see below …)
Sleigh rides. (yeah, in a 2 horse open sleigh - that I built with my own hands!)
Hot chocolate, raging fire in the fireplace, snuggling with my wife and listening to the howling storm outside.
Hate
Totally unreliable weather forecasts from NOAA 'cause they keep trying to “predict the big one” that nobody else saw coming. (The reason everyone else was predicting “a chance of scattered snow showers” is because there was only a marginal chance of snow, but nooooo, you had to issue a “Major Winter Storm Warning” - just in case. Eighteen out of nineteen storms last year! Oh, yeah, that one big storm? The one you missed? 12" of snow in less than 4 1/2 hours? That really should NOT have been “continued unseasonably mild temperatures with partly cloudy skies …”. :mad: )
Chaining up my rig when the roads are just wet 'cause someone at NDOT unnecessarily invokes the chain law so the state won’t get sued because some jerk doesn’t know how to drive in winter conditions and it might (just might) freeze. (When it’s 45 degrees - it’s called rain.)
Truck drivers who are too lazy to chain up their rigs when conditions warrant it and cause major traffic delays or wrecks when they lose control of their rigs. (Come on guys and gals - you’re supposed to be Professionals, for cryin’ out loud. Chain up or go sit in a truck stop 'till this thing blows over!)
Motorists (and Truckers) who think they have the best tires on the planet. (Just 'cause ya got four wheel drive (or 18 tires on the road) doesn’t mean you can stop any better in an emergency.
Motorists who don’t care that their tires are bald, or their vehicle is prone to breakdowns due to poor maintenance, heading out cross country during a major winter storm.
Finding a family of four from Iowa frozen to death in Wyoming four days before christmas (see above). 
<end of list>
“Hey, guys and gals, it’s winter again. You’re still alive, you’ve made it through another year. Be glad ya got somethin’ to bitch about!”
You asked …
Lucy
Love:
Bedrooms cold enough to sleep comfortably
Piles of blankets and quilts (I’ll try to break my last winter’s record: 4 quilts, 2 comforters, flannel top sheet, fleece fitted sheet)
Christmas break
Wrapping presents (I’m the designated wrapper in our family, even if the present is for me!)
Walking outside at night with the moonlight reflecting off of the snow
Decorating the tree
That guy on the Snowline saying dejectedly “All schools are closed for today.”
Sitting by the fire
Food!
Hate:
Driving in poor conditions
Overheated malls
Pants and footwear getting soaked
Going to put garments on again and finding they’re still soaked
People bitching about how they hate Christmas because “it’s so commercial”
Wet hair freezing when you go outside
Colds
Dry skin (my whole body feels tight, like my skin doesn’t fit anymore)
Static electricity
That guy on the Snowline trying to hide his joy at being able to say “All schools are open.”