In my impromptu facebook poll of “What should I write about?” the winner seemed to be creature comforts during winter. Which sounds kind of dull to me, but hey I asked!

My number one comfortable thing in winter is hot drinks. Tea, mostly, but also cider & chocolate and sake. I’ve always wanted to drink hot sake while it was snowing, and hold my steaming cup out to catch a snowflake like they do in every Japanese story I’ve ever encountered where characters were drinking in the snow.

I’m also a big fan of the thick plush lounge pants that I wear in between bed and real clothes. It’s not clear to me what the difference is between “lounge pants” and “pajama pants”. I suspect it’s one of those things that only makes sense in the twisted minds of marketing people.

I was going to talk about food… but I don’t really change my diet much based on the seasons. More soup, less salad, I suppose. Stew instead of Chinese chicken salad, for example. Otherwise, well, a hot sandwich and two pints of ale is just always good.

How about hot tubs? Dashing through the cold air to stop and dip a toe in, deciding it’s just a little too hot so you sort of slide in gradually. Hot tubs are just generally awesome, but I appreciate them more in the winter. Let’s face it, with the summers around here I’m usually happier in water that’s cooler than my body temperature. Or at least cooler than the air.

I joked about it on facebook, but this winter the Occupy movement has really been a genuine comfort to me. In deference to the “not depressing or angry” request, I’ll only say that it gives me hope.

Far and away, though, the biggest comfort to me in the winter is that I’m not constantly sweating. Seriously, it feels like my sweat glands never take a break between mid July and early November, and by the time we finally get that first cool day, usually about a week after Halloween, I’m so sick of being covered in sweat that I dance around with joy. Which usually is enough to work up a sweat. Dammit.