Spring Sprung

Since moving here I have consistently been excited by my first winter. I haven't seen this much snow, well, ever, and, although I dislike some of what that brings (the bad driving conditions, shoveling, falling on head due to ice, etc.), I have really enjoyed watching it fall and coat the ground with a clean white slate.

However, this week is my first where I'm having difficulty. In Southern California, Spring ... springs! By the end of March and beginning of April, temperatures are rising, the winds start to die down, the rains come, and the entire area starts blooming and the animals and birds return. The world begins to look alive.

And, well, that is what I've been used to for 37 of my years.

So, to find it snowing after the first day of Spring has been a disappointment. Not that I don't like the snow -- as I said, I still enjoy watching it -- but more because my internal clock is set to "temps rise, things bloom, life returns" at this point of the year.

My wife tells me we may be running the stove into mid-April. We may have at or below freezing temps through April and into May. And, of course, Spring and Summer are very short seasons here because of it.

So, for the first time since moving here, I'm feeling a bit down and bit disconsolate due to the weather. I'm sure, once I get fully acclimated and my body has a chance to relearn its internal clock, this will fade. But right now, today, watching the violent wind throw fine powdery snow around, I'm feeling a bit blue.