Funny that we can live in the same country and have such a variety of accents, cultural customs, traditions, income potential and weather. All these things make for good conversation with strangers too, coincidentally. What else are you going to chat up a stranger about, your secret addiction to buying lipsticks and hoarding them for the zombie apocalypse?
In Wisconsin this winter we have had an extreme amount of below zero temperatures and piles of snow and ice. Our humble little city even made the national news as the coldest temperatures in the country this winter. An honor we could of done without and none of us wanted. Most of us have been trapped indoors for weeks at a time, just trying to survive the temperatures and remember what the sun felt like.
My sister (one of my many sister’s) lives in Pasadena, California with her husband in the cutest little bungalow you’ve ever seen. I think it was even scouted one time to be used in a movie.
In the weather app on my phone, I have my city, her city, our favorite summer vacation spot and Paris programmed in so I can check the weather in any of those places at any time. I have had weather envy watching her temps compared to mine over the past few months. When we are -21 air temps with a wind chill of -49, she is over 80 degrees warmer at temps in the 60’s. One day she had to close her shades because it was a frigid 45 degrees. Poor thing. I don’t know how she survived it.
Circumstances brought me to Pasadena this week (yesterday!). When I landed at 8 a.m. it was almost 70 degrees, the sun was shining and I saw (brace yourself) wild roses growing along the freeway. And they were in FULL BLOOM! I thought I died and was in heaven.
We spent all day outside. We walked, we shopped, we sat in rocking chairs on her porch. It reached 80 degrees and it was wonderful.
My backyard….
Her backyard…
We went to dinner that evening at a lovely little pizza place called “The Luggage Room” and sat outside. As I ate my veggie pizza (made from ingredients bought at the local farmer’s market) I watched children playing on the patio, people passing with their dogs, couples talking and laughing over drinks and I noticed no one seemed to be in a hurry. The evening was still warm, there was a tiny breeze blowing and the sun had not yet set. In other words, no one was running from car to store with the wind knocking the breath out of them, dodging snow and ice.
I’m not saying that living in a part of the country where the weather is always perfect and warm wouldn’t get old. (yeah, poor Californian’s with their perfect weather) For me, I would probably miss the change of seasons. The smell of dirt in the spring, the summer sun, the beautiful orange and red and yellow trees in the fall and yes, even the snow in the winter. But having survived the winter we are having this year, I am going to soak up all the vitamin D my body wants, I am going to eat outside and sit on her porch and walk outside in my bare feet because I will be going home to this….
However, spring is coming……..right?