Begin the Winter Doldrums

At last, you've left the confines of your family—or your family has left your confines, and you box up the menorah and ornaments and Christmas lights, and set that old, young pine tree on the curb to be recycled into mulch for brothers and sisters with equally short lifespans. Decorations come down, you go back to work or working at finding work, holiday cheer dissolves into mundacity, and we wait for the next celebration of life.

For most of us living in seasonal areas, these are the two months that we wait before we see the first buds on the deciduous trees, bulbs start to sprout up, and winds that don't chill to the bone. The only breaks are commemorations of a civil rights leader, a pointed ovoid reputed to be fashioned from porcine dermis, and a few presidents. It's the time to hunker down and get good work done before the weather can draw us from our burrows.

But it's not all bad. While the whole world is in hibernation, rocky mountain slopes are covered in microcrystalline ice that provides a soft, low-friction medium for the controlled descent of the nordically inclined. One can enjoy a stroll through forests that are dead quiet; not a cicada or sparrow to break the tranquility. There are a few months before having to hear about clothing sales. Coffee shops go back to their regular background music of new age, jazz, and classical.

If you're Chinese, the fun's just starting. Replace those Christmas trees with ornamental mandarin trees. Cover your windows and walls with paraphernalia for the next year's animal. Trade red envelopes with money. Gather all your family and eat delicious food (at the right times depending on your family's rituals). Shoot off firecrackers! By the time the fifteenth day is over and you've finished the lantern festival, it's only a few weeks until cherry blossoms.