Hibernating Humans

I have seen some people in the past couple of days shaking off the hazy cobwebs of hibernation. We have hit the first few days of warmth of the year and I have been out running. Normally I would have run in the slush, muck and snow of the season, but not this year. I, like many of the people in the northern part of the United States hunkered down and stayed out of the elements. It seems that we do this almost as instinctually as the bears. Regardless of how much fun wintertime outdoor activities are and how great cold weather gear has become, people seem to relish the idea of some time off from the physical grind of warm weather activities. Maybe we need this time to re-charge our batteries, or maybe the weather is just a convenient excuse to not get wet and a bit cold and to let our bodies and minds recover from our months of warm weather.

Maybe this hiatus enables us to live longer. Doesn't it seem that longevity is usually centered in colder climates? Could it be that people in warmer climates just don't take the time to stop, fatten up for the winter, and rest their tired bodies?