The Winter Time Cadence in the North

Up here they say that there are two seasons, winter and visitation.  All our neighbors have visitors all spring, summer, and fall, but not so much in the winter.  Family and friends come from all over to stay and visit when the Michigan weather is warm and beautiful.  We hope we will be like them and have visitors next "visitation" season; however, until then we have some down time.  Winter, here, is the season for reading, writing, indoor hobbies, outdoor sports, learning, exercising, planning for next year, and sleeping.

I/We are really starting to finally get settled. Now that we have completed all outdoor projects for the year and most of the indoor ones as well, we are starting to have TIME for more than work.  That brings me to the point of this posting - the part of living here that I really like the best.

There seems to be a different time cadence here - I felt it the very first time we vacationed in the UP.  Summer has one cadence and winter has a different one...a slower one.  It's hard to verbally explain it, you have to feel it.  I think that it is what makes Uppers, Uppers!  They don't seem to sweat the small stuff.  Maybe it's because they are much closer to nature - they seem more grounded that we are in the bigger cities.  Maybe it comes from only having one big box store, one very small mall, and one theater.  Maybe it comes from the cold weather.  Maybe they are like salamanders - they slow down in the cold. We (people who live here) do go outside (all the time), walking, running, skiing, snowmobiling, snow-shoeing  - so we are not going slow, the time just gets slow and quiet - if that makes sense?

Maybe it has to do with the amount of daylight??  We wake up in the dark and soon, it will be getting dark by about 3:30ish.  But so do all of you - so what makes the time seem slow?  I don't think it is because we are retired, I'm not the only one up here who feels this.  I've had this conversation with other locals who have lived elsewhere and then moved here; they all have experienced this sensed time warp.  I really don't think that this slowed time will have any effect on our age - but we can hope!

I invite you here sometime in winter, not only enjoy our winter sports, but for you to experience our winter cadence!