Mason fixins — eating in winter

"It was a winter of heavy snows on Gont, and a long winter. The harvest had been a good one. There was food for the animals and people, and not much to do but eat it and stay warm." —Tehanu, Ursula K. LeGuin

Today, lots of people spend the winter getting up early, working, being serious about all the things they didn't take seriously over the summer, but I bet things weren't always this way. Hunkering down for the winter, nesting, seems more natural to me than spending the winter than getting up before the sun.

It'd be nice spend winter in a semi-hibernation state, like bears. Though there are stories of humans entering true hibernation, such as the Norwegian skier who survived an hour submerged in near-freezing water, I'd rather be able to wake up for a few hours, for lunch.

I know Jess beat me to the punch with her mason jar pictures, but here is my point: we can almost completely take care of life's necessities in the summer. Set up our house/cave/nest, raise our food, preserve it. All that's left to do in the winter months is "eat it and stay warm." Mmm, look at all this delicious food that Rose's mother canned.

The Kronos Quartet has an awesome CD called Winter Was Hard, perfect listening for when you're sitting in bed, eating canned pickles and apple sauce.