I have never understood the obsession that the culture that I am part of has with the sun and warm weather.

I am sure that somebody here will offer​ some Darwinian explanation like "Our species is biologically built for living near the equator, therefore it makes sense that people in all geographic locations would not like cold weather".

Well, if we are going to be consistent, since we in the West consider our ability to harness the energy from fossil fuels to be a great achievement we ought to celebrate the part of the year that reminds us the most of such triumph. You know, the part of the year when, thanks to the H part of HVAC, we are able to live comfortably in locations like the Great Lakes.

But it seems that the only thing we appreciate the winter for is luxuries like ski resorts or thrills like extreme winter sports.

What I hear from other people is that they dread the winter because everything is "dead". Everything comes back to life again in the spring, the thinking continues.

It is depressing. I'm not talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder depressing--that is caused by the physical environment. I mean that people's attitudes about the winter are depressing.

I appreciate it this way: nature is getting a good night's sleep. It is a refreshingly quiet and peaceful time. And the landscape is awesome and humbling a lot of the time. When things are white and bright it makes the landscape feel bigger and more awesome, just like how white walls make a room bigger.

But I have noticed that the serious visual arts have not overlooked what I am talking about. Maybe aesthetics is not popular culture's strong suit.

We might all feel better in the stress and frenzy of contemporary life if more people appreciated the peace and beauty of winter.