Column: Tips for staying cozy outside

I write to you from a tent made of quilts. My housemates and I are too cheap and too stubborn to turn on the heat, so here I am, hiding under a pile of blankets, prepared to enter a Netflix-fueled state of hibernation until the warm weather returns.

As winter descends, our collective willpower to leave the house wanes. As cozy as the fetal position is, it might not be great for your mental health. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or (fittingly) SAD, and the garden-variety gray-weather blues undermine people’s moods.

Some colleges, like the University of Notre Dame, use “happy lamps” and rooms with UV light to provide light therapy to their overclouded, seasonally depressed students.

We’re wintering in North Carolina, not Northern Indiana (thank God), and we still have blue skies in November. Those days are beautiful for the crispness of the cold. Trees are still elegant with bare branches, and wooded trails are softer for their new mantle of fallen leaves.

Winter is a fine time to be outside, but making it fun in a land bereft of ski slopes or ice skating ponds can requires a little creativity.

Whatever you do, aim for seasonally appropriate dress. If you’re a cold-fearing cycling fiend, invest in windproof gloves and a windproof outer shell. While running, try earmuffs underneath a hat. Double up on socks, and if it’s wet out, put plastic bags between layers of socks to keep your feet toasty and dry.

I prefer bagel bags. They are feet-shaped and decorated with fashionable exclamations, like, “100% Whole Wheat!” I also recommend wearing leggings under all pants. If that’s not enough, practice your favorite version of the Hypothermia Dance for added warmth.

As for having fun outside, try jogging between friends’ houses, demanding hot cocoa at each. Or play a contact sport that involves unintentional cuddling.

Find a running buddy to get you out of your warm bed. Drink hot coffee in your slippers and jump out the door before you can change your mind.

Try to limit available excuses if you exercise first thing in the morning. I hate changing out of my pajamas in a cold room, so I sleep in my running clothes.

Not the running sort? Try gardening. Digging holes, raking and turning compost will get muscles burning in any weather. Plus, well-maintained compost can get up to 120 degrees even in November. On cold mornings, steam drifts over the piles like fog. When your shovel breaks into the heart of the heap, the whole thing radiates warmth.

If you climb, start tackling the south sides of mountains. South-facing stone bakes in the sun all day. In the summer, it’s like crawling up the edge of a skillet, but the temperature is perfect come fall.

The goal is to stay active. Spend some time in the sun, even when the sunlight is hardly warmer than the shade. Go for a walk to catch up with a friend. Wrap your trees in holiday lights. Chop wood for a backyard bonfire.

The best way to stay warm — and happy — is to keep moving.