Last winter was one of the coldest and snowiest on record. It was also the winter that I was on an endless pursuit for a warm winter coat as I was house training a new puppy and seemed to be outdoors for an ungodly amount of time. As I am of short stature and particularly picky about my sartorial choices, I finally found my coat at the end of the season and instead looked for other ways to warm my heart and soul during that relentless winter.

As I look out my window while writing this column, snow has blanketed my backyard and beautiful icicles are forming on my pine trees. It is the first snowfall of the season and my kids couldn’t be happier. Me? Not so much…I have to wrap up this edition and was hoping to finalize it instead of having a dreaded snow day.

But as I’m leafing through the pages herein, I come across Dan Levitz’s beautiful essay on how winters actually help with community and family bonding. And I wholeheartedly agree. With an unanticipated early dismissal yesterday, my neighbor on the cul-de-sac invites my kids and I over for a playdate. The kids get busy to work on crafts and us moms get busy imbibing a nice glass of wine while the snow picks up. That morning while I was on my “bread and milk” run before the snowy Armageddon hit us, I asked her if she needed any groceries too. If there’s anything I learned after living here for seven years is that we have to help each other out if we are going to survive the long winter.

And help we do…just perusing through Facebook last night there were several messages about the MetroNorth schedules and which roads/highways to avoid (practically all!). After spending admittedly too much time on social media, I put my iPhone down and curled up with a good book. As a source said in Anna Young’s article about local book clubs– “There’s nothing like having a cup of tea with your book with the fireplace going. It’s perfect.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s the best antidote to a cold winter night.

Wishing you a holiday season filled with warmth,