What do you like to do to celebrate the new year? For me, the answer is increasingly to spend the winter days at year’s end up north at the family cabin. In a previous post, I wrote about what the change of season from summer to autumn means for cabin time; the winter cabin is a different experience yet.
With a frigid landscape outside and darkness falling by late afternoon, at the winter cabin the space we occupy in the warmer months has shrunk and turned inward in the dark evenings.
At the winter cabin, we trade the cool blue water view for the serene white of a frozen lake.
The lapping of waves gives way to the silence of a snowfall.
The dog days of summer become bluebird January days.
Cold temperatures don’t necessarily mean a shortage of recreation opportunities to fill winter days at the cabin however. Here we can swap boating or floating on the water for fishing or skiing on the ice.
And, instead of sharing evening s’mores around a firepit, we find ourselves drinking evening cocoa near the fireplace.
Spending the wintery new year at the cabin is a celebration based on retreat from daily life, a chance to rest the mind and reset. And of course, no matter the season, cabins are a place for families and friends to reconnect. Perfect goals for the start of a new year- here’s to 2026!
