It's hard to believe that Rochesterians still complain about winter. Each year we act as if we've never dealt with it before. We complain about the cold, the shoveling, the bulky clothes, as if these things are all new to us. And expecting us to get used to them is an unthinkable idea, like winter is a foreign language, whereas summer is our native tongue. In Rochester? With only three months of weather reaching average highs above 70 degrees, and almost five months of average temps 50 degrees or below, that's not a very logical conclusion.

Hating war will never create peace, just like hating winter won't make it summer. What we resist persists, and although resisting winter won't make it last any longer, it will make it seem that way. We live in Rochester, where it snows. Where winter is long and the lake effect affects us. Get over it! It's time to chin-up and accept our due, and maybe even embrace it. Unlikely as it sounds, many things are just better in the winter.

Let's start with food, specifically warm liquid chocolate. A big mug of hot cocoa with a dollop of whipped cream, or with marshmallows floating on the top, or supporting a nice thick film of Fluff - yum! Hot cocoa just can't be fully appreciated unless you're cold and needing to warm up. It's the traditional "come inside for a cup of..." after all winter activities. If chocolate isn't your vice, there's hot cider, hot buttered rum, and warmed plum wine. Or use your imagination and create your own hot toddy. Perhaps it will become a tradition.

Soups and stews are good year round, but they, too, are best served with winter. They also give us the opportunity to use another wintertime favorite: the crock pot. Place the ingredients inside in the morning and come home to a house filled with the smells of grandma's kitchen.

Then there's baking - cookies, brownies, squash, breads, potatoes, roasts, you name it. All the things we don't want to make in the heat of summer, but in the winter add comfort and warmth to our house, and our bellies.

Some things are simply more satisfying in the winter. Getting the car cleaned is always nice, but having all the salt and dirt washed off and seeing its true color again is priceless. Summer has newly mowed lawns; winter has newly washed cars.

When the weather outside is warm and sunny, it's hard to convince yourself to spend the day in the dark confines of a movie theater. Not so in winter. Winter provides the perfect excuse to huddle down with some soda, popcorn, and candy in a cozy cinema, hushing the insistent parental voice in your head that nags, "Go outside and get some fresh air!"

Winter has its comforts, too. Curling up in a blanket to read a good book. Taking a long warm bath to soak off the chill. Hot tubs just don't make sense in the summer, but in the winter, with the snow floating down to melt as it hits the water? Magical. Sitting in front of a fireplace and watching the flames dance. Wearing cozy socks and funny slippers. Hopping into a bed that's been preheated with an electric blanket or mattress pad. Flannel sheets. There really is comfort in comforters.

There are also some natural advantages to winter. With the lawns covered in snow, keeping up with the Jones' is a snap. No one lawn looks any better than another. In fact, the perfect serenity of newly fallen snow gives us all the hope of a Currier & Ives life, with the Rockwells as our ever-loving perfect parents.

Of course, there are the winter activities - sledding, skiing, skating, sleigh rides, all the "S is for Snow" words. But there are also the almost-forgotten frivolities, unless you have kids. Sit by the window and see the world as a snow globe. Catch snowflakes on your tongue. Make snow angels. Throw snowballs at [fill in blank]. Knock down and lick some icicles. Listen to the snow crunch as you walk upon it.

There are many, many things to embrace about winter in Rochester, but if you still find it difficult, there is help: bright light therapy. There are boxes and lamps that can simulate sunlight. With different wavelengths of light, these products have been known to help people with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

That leads us to tanning booths. Without getting into the health pros and cons, it sure is nice to lay inside a tanning bed, imagine you're in a tropical location, and feel the warmth of the (fake though it may be) sun on the bod. And if none of these ideas help you to embrace our natural habitat, there's always the promise that one more day means one more day closer to spring.