It’s dark in the morning and dark at night. If climate change hasn’t completely screwed things up, it will soon get really cold.

Some of you are down in the dumps already.

Others are unaffected by weather except when the temperature goes above 80 degrees accompanied by humidity. That’s me. It’s then that I lose the will to live. I prefer rain and snow. I like the coziness of the dark and the exhilaration of zero fahrenheit. It’s possible I have a screw loose. Or it may be that I’ve just learned to appreciate certain aspects of winter.

At the outset, I’ll admit I have a fireplace, I have only 17 feet of sidewalk to shovel, I don’t have to drive in bad weather, and sometimes we can get away for a few days to someplace warm. Since you live in downtown Boston, it is likely that you share most of these advantages. Usually I’m here, though, slogging through the snow like everyone else.

But winter has distinct advantages. For one thing, friends are around. You know how friends have that annoying habit of going away for the entire summer or at least on weekends. In winter, however, you can meet them for dinner or a play. They can be corralled for a walk on the Esplanade or the Greenway. And it’s not just friends, but co-workers too. It can get pretty unsatisfactory in the summer when someone you need to speak to get your job done is on vacation. By and large you can accomplish more and enjoy people more in the winter.

Reading, watching television, listening to music and going to movies—they all seem more accessible in the winter when it’s cold and dark. Sitting before that fire while doing any of these activities makes things even more cozy and comfortable. Add friends or family to the picture, and it gets better and better.

When I was young with a new baby I remember feeling cooped up. Then I discovered winter activities. Since the stroller didn’t breeze through snow, we’d put the baby in a back pack and go cross-country skiing along the river. One frosty winter evening we skied up the frozen Charles to Harvard Square for dinner with friends. (Do they let you do that now?) Parents with little kids can now go skating on the Frog Pond or in Kendall Square. I’ve even known parents who are confident and skilled enough to ski downhill with their child in a backpack. That’s not me, and it may not be you, but it shows that people who learn winter sports enjoy the season more than those who don’t.

Winter is the perfect time to do things that summer is too hot for. Have you ever gotten naked with your friends and soaked in hot steam at Dillons Russian Steam Bath? It’s just over the Tobin Bridge in Chelsea. Even if your forbears did not come from Eastern Europe, you’ll recognize the place from all those Russian novels you’ve read. There are oak leaves that you can switch one another with. It’s all unlike anything else you ever do. Apparently there are other old-world steam bath facilities in Boston, but Dillons is the only one I’ve been to.

Finally, there is the easy winter pleasure of peeking in people’s windows. As you walk home from work or from parking your car, you can observe the charming domestic lives of those who’ve forgotten to close their curtains or those who just don’t close them at all. They’re cooking dinner. They’re throwing a cocktail party. They’re watching television or setting the dining room table. You don’t like their taste in furniture or you do.

If these winter pleasures don’t speak to you, remember that winter really lasts only about four months. By March, the Japanese witch hazel has begun to bloom and days of long sunshine are around the corner. Then all of you who like to bake in the sun in hot, humid weather can start making your plans. It’s when that hot weather hits that I’ll be dreaming of winter.