Kerre Woodham: There's a golden lining to winter

Photo / Supplied

Isn't it extraordinary how a change in the weather brings about a change in attitude?

I loathe winter. Maybe it's having a shaggy-haired border collie that makes this my least favourite season. For three months of the year, the dog's a damp, smelly, mud-encrusted filth trap.

He doesn't care that it's blowing a gale and hailing and that no other living organisms are braving the elements. He knows his rights - that he's entitled to two walks a day and he's had them since he was a pup - and bad weather doesn't faze him. His ancestors roamed the Scottish borders in the most bitter of winters so a wet Wednesday in Auckland is a walk in the park.

Border collies might pass through winter unscathed but it doesn't suit people. We scuttle in bad weather. We put our heads down and rush from one place to the next. We don't have the inclination to stop and chat and pass the time of day. We do the needful and get straight back home where we can hunker down with our nearest and dearest.

But come spring and out we come. Mums and dads head down to the park with the kids. Neighbours chat over the fence.

Beautiful people drape themselves outside trendy cafes and bask in the last light of day. We stop to smell freesias and to listen to the tui in the trees. Pretty girls wear flimsy dresses and athletic young men strip to their shorts for a pick-up game of football.

Thank God the worst of the winter days are over and spring has officially sprung.

The only good thing about winter is that if it wasn't so miserable, we wouldn't appreciate the golden days so much.