Maybe I Should Be In Charge

Maybe I should be in charge...of the weather. I'm sure more people would agree with me than with Mother Nature. I'm not convinced she's doing a good job at all. Maybe it's that time of the millenium?

"I find it funny, the people who bitch about the cold and snow are the same people bitching about the heat and humidity." Saw this on my facebook newsfeed this morning & immediately had about 20,000 replies run through my mind.

I'm one of those people.

I'm one of those people & I am not ashamed. Here's the deal- The cold & snow are fine for Christmas, maybe a whole month, maybe even 2 months. I'm not opposed to cold & snow. I'm just sick of it after 5 to 6 months.

I actually do want a winter. I very much enjoy the changing of the seasons.

Fall is my favorite & it seems to be the shortest. I enjoy the changing colors of the leaves. I like the cooler temperatures but not yet really needing a coat...a light jacket maybe, but not the bulky down coat. I like the sunshine with the crisp air & the occasional waft of smoke from a chimney or bonfire. I love, love, love Halloween. And I certainly have no complaints about Thanksgiving, not even if it snows.



My back yard, winter 2010-11



Then winter comes...& at first is really quite lovely. That first snowfall is still special. The first storm is still impressive. I still take a picture every year when the snow is so deep that it ranks as 'incredible.' I love a white Christmas. But then there's January & February & March & even April....And honestly, it's not the snow I mind, or even the cold. It's the gray. It's the gray skies. The clouds & lack of sunshine. It's the dark. It weighs me down after a while.

In the spring, everyone gets excited to get outside in the warmer weather. I'm not the outdoorsy type, so I don't care so much. I do like seeing flowers bloom & leaves on the trees. But it's still gray. It rains & rains & rains until everything floods. There are puddles everywhere & mud. The dogs come in with muddy feet & smelling like wet dogs. Because they are wet dogs. And the mud smells too. Spring smells like fish  worms to me & I absolutely hate fish & worms. And it's the season for sneezing.

Ahhh, summer... I do enjoy the sunshine & the first days of shorts. It's lovely up to about 77 degrees. Then it gets iffy. It can feel pretty hot here in Ohio above that & if it's humid & there's no breeze. And summer comes with mosquitos & if ever there was a mosquito magnet, I'm it. And it comes with bees too. And bees sting & I'm allergic & it freaks me out because I have had some bad reactions & one never knows when it will be medically serious.

I hate 'the dog days.' I live inside where I have air conditioning. I really feel like I can't breathe when it's 95 degrees with 90% humidity. My hair feels glued to my head & looks greasy after 20 minutes in that kind of weather. I absolutely hate feeling sticky & stinky & sweaty & I don't much enjoy being around other people who are sticky, stinky & sweaty. It's just plain nasty.

At least when it's 10 degrees with a foot of snow, no one expects you to sit outside in it all day drinking cocktails. No, then we can sit inside & enjoy a contolled temperature with no bugs, no sunburn, & relatively little sweating.

a tropical paradise

<--  Now if Ohio transformed to THIS for the summer, I'd be okay with it. But it doesn't.

And I don't have a pool. And I don't much enjoy wearing a bathing suit in public. The people who'd see me probably appreciate that too.

This is me, my 2 girls & our stray for the day...

And somehow, at public swimming facilities, we always end up with some stray kid who thinks we are more fun than his own family & won't go away.

I'd love it if we only dipped below 60 & snowed for the month of December & if it only went above 77 for (maybe) the 2 weeks around the 4th of July. And I never like humidity.

Anyone know where I can move to get that?