Why New Year’s is My Least Favorite Holiday
Now that the Big Weekend is Over, I Finally Realized Why I’ll Take ANY Holiday Over New Year’s
For over 30 years, the New Year’s holiday has been my least favorite. This weekend, I realized why.
For most of my growing up years, I lived in Arizona and Nevada. Winters were mostly mild. I used to say that we really only had one season — summer — plus a week of autumn, a couple of days of winter, and maybe two weeks of spring.
Winter really was mostly a respite from the 100 degree to 120 degree temperatures that we had from late April through early October.
That all changed when I moved to the Rocky Mountains for college. I got married while in college, got a job in the nearby town, and we somehow never left the area. We raised our children in the Rocky Mountains.
My extended family was in Nevada, and my wife, D’s extended family was in Southern California. But during our adult years, both sets of extended families all ended up in the Rocky Mountains. It was pretty odd, actually.
In the Rocky Mountains, we have four seasons: summer, winter, a week in May, and a week in September.
The snow and cold of winter is so much more stark when contrasted with the 90-plus degree temperatures of the summer. We typically get our first snow in October, and snow continues up through April, and sometimes even into June.
How it can snow one day and be 80 degrees two days later is a bit of a mystery to me.
For most of my adult life, winter has been difficult for me.
My joints ache whenever the temperature drops consistently below 60 degrees. The austere whiteness of the snow-covered mountains gives me a bit of claustrophobia (I need green!). And I’ve had more close calls driving in the snow than I can count.
Growing up in the desert, I always considered the holiday season to be the end of winter. The holidays were the high point of winter, were a lot of fun, and winter came to an end soon after.
In the Rocky Mountains, on the other hand, the holiday season is the last hurrah before winter truly sets in. And, New Year’s Day marks the end of the holiday season.
Here, the first week of January is typically one of the coldest weeks of the year, often having temperatures that never break above the single digits (Fahrenheit!!). And, New Year’s marks the start of the most onerous six weeks of a winter that seems like it’s been going on since October, and will last until at least April.
I know, the purists will say that this actually incorporates autumn and spring. But I say that, if it’s got snow in it, it’s winter. Just trust me on this, eh?
I’ve come to understand that I most likely struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder. For me, the cold and whiteness of the mountains is the trigger. I feel a bit trapped.
In the past, D and I have often tried to take our winter break starting the second week in January and go somewhere warm and green, in order to offset the SAD. I’ve tried the happy lights with the high lumens, but since my trigger is cold rather than light, the happy lights don’t help much.
I do recall two separate New Year’s holidays that I quite enjoyed.
Both were in Florida.
Our daughter, her husband, and their family were living in Tallahassee while he completed his Ph.D. at Florida State University. As full-time RV’ers, we found it quite convenient to spend the winters near them.
For the first New Year’s, Christmas day had been 85 degrees (and we had the air conditioner going). New Year’s day was only slightly cooler.
Did you know that the holiday season is mostly green in Florida?
Since our son-in-law is part Japanese, the New Year’s celebration is the highlight of his family’s holiday season. And, I lived in Japan for a couple of years, so a Japanese New Year resonates strongly for me.
That year, our daughter’s family, D, and I celebrated in true Japanese style, including mochi, kimonos and haorihakamas (and even more gifts than on Christmas).
The second notable New Year’s holiday in Florida actually started a day early. Our third grand daughter was born in Tallahassee on December 30. That New Year’s holiday was a bit more reserved. But it was filled with all the goodness that a new baby brings.
Well, Ph.D. in hand, our daughter and son-in-law ended up bringing their family back to the Rocky Mountains. They spend New Year’s Day with his family since they are close to them again.
And once again, I find myself realizing just how much I dislike New Year’s.
Maybe I’ll move to Australia. I hear that the holiday season is summer down there.
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