Rituals mark the start of winter

...or, are they just ways to cope?

I greet every season with personal rituals. Maybe it is part of living in the country and living a little closer to nature.  

Greeting warm weather is all about joy: spying the first crocus, picking the earliest strawberries, getting my sailboat ready for another season and, in general, rejoicing that winter is over.  

But bracing for cold weather is all …