CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE: THINKING ABOUT WINTER IS A GOOD EXCUSE TO NAP

It's time to start thinking about winter.

I realized this the other morning when I got out of bed shivering, checked the thermostat and decided it was time to start thinking about turning on the furnace.

Shiver...cold...furnace...WINTER!

It's a logical progression, really.

I'm pretty much a middle-of-the-road kind of girl. I like fall and spring, when temperatures are just extreme enough to make life interesting.

Summer and winter take things too far. There's no point in having weather if it makes me not want to leave the house.

This is my favorite time of year. Warmish days, cool nights. Gorgeous, though occasionally dampish, weather.

I don't mind rain in autumn. A rainy October day is a good excuse to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and read a book.

And sneak in a nap between chapters. Naps are one of the great things about cool weather. It's too hot to sleep in summer, and I usually feel obligated to do something. On rainy fall days, naps are perfectly acceptable.

Except at work, of course. But I'm just short enough, and the cubicle walls are just tall enough that I could probably catch 20 or 30 winks and no one would notice.

We have an employee suggestion box here at the Missourian. I'm trying to work up the courage to suggest a corporate nap policy. We could all get our little mats out of our cubbies every afternoon at 2 o'clock or so (by which time we've all returned from lunch), sleep for half an hour and have milk and cookies.

The time change is another good thing about cooler weather. In spring, if you forget the time change, you're late for church. In fall, you're an hour early. Free nap time.

How often does that happen?

Yes, I did forget to reset my clock. I always do.

In winter, I don't think about naps. I certainly don't dare take naps. They quickly segue from naps into hibernation.

I'm not leaving the cave until spring, and no one can make me.

There are many good things about autumn: Cool weather, the changing leaves, apples, learning to ignore football, bulky woolen clothing, the new season of "The X-Files."

We'll ignore the ragweed and mold. One good freeze, and they'll be gone.

There are, to my way of thinking, only two good things about winter: Christmas and spring.

Well, and getting to wear the occasional cool sweater, but since you've got 12 layers of clothing on over it, no one can see it.

OK, and hot chocolate, but you could really make that any time of year. In August, you could just turn the air conditioner way up, and be perfectly comfortable.

My friend Karen and her husband are moving to Minnesota next month. Jack got a new job and St. Paul is a beautiful city.

They found a very nice apartment on the 14th floor of a nice building downtown.

"That should get us above the snow," said Carrie, who is originally from Miami.

Carrie complains about the winters in the Bootheel. She is not looking forward to living in that region of the country known as "the icebox."

Gee, I wonder why...

Every year when the weather starts turning cold, I start thinking about how much I hate winter. It's not depressing, just tiresome.

Time for a nap.

Peggy O'Farrell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.