Got wool?

Winter is a long season here in Wisconsin.  A long, cold season.  And if I’m in the right frame of mind, I love it.  I love snuggling with cats and drinking warm beverages.  I love playing in the snow and seeing the crispness of a starry winter sky.  I love watching the pure white snow sparkle under a bright winter sun with the sky blue as blue can be.   I like crawling into my warm bed (we got a heated mattress pad a couple years ago…such a good purchase!) and my soft flannel sheets.  I like how life slows down a bit in winter.  There are no gardens to tend, no late night walks to take.  Sitting and drinking hot chocolate and reading is just perfect.

One thing that I don’t like so much about winter is that I often am cold.  We keep our thermostat kind of low, and I sometimes have found that I don’t feel really warm from October to May.  I was mentioning this to my friend Janelle last winter, and she asked if I wore long underwear and knee-high wool socks.  I told her I didn’t, and she suggested that I adopt those behaviors as soon as possible.

Do you know about Smart Wool?  When I was in graduate school, my friend Jennifer introduced me to Smart Wool socks.  They’re wool, and, she informed me, they keep her cold feet warm all winter and they keep her feet cool in the summer.  Plus (and this is a big plus for clammy-footed me), the wool has magic powers that keep her feet dry and odor-free.

Since then, I’ve acquired several pairs of Smart Wool socks.  In the past, I’ve mostly used them as hiking socks or wear-around-the-house socks.  But after talking to Janelle, I decided to add some knee-high Smart Wool into my wardrobe.  And over the last couple years, I also acquired two Smart Wool long-sleeved shirts.  They’re expensive, but I can personally attest that the cost is worth it.  Since I’ve been wearing my knee-high wool socks and my wool shirts, I’ve been warm!  On the rare day that I’m not wearing wool, I usually find myself wondering why I’m so darn cold.  Oh, and a scarf around my neck helps too!

So this is my winter tip to you.  Get thyself some wool.  If you’re at all wool sensitive (I am!) I recommend Smart Wool.  Oh, and getting an electric mattress pad to heat up your bed before you climb in is such a luxury.  You’ll be glad you did.