Spring Has Sprung? Well, Yeah!

decadesofhealth

Spring has sprung!  Well....sort of.  Last night, we 'sprung ahead' with the time, meaning that the sun was out, in the sky, approaching the 7 o'clock hour this evening.  Holla!  Temps climbed all the way into the 40's today, as well...a virtual heatwave!  These two things give us winter-weary peeps even more reason to look forward to the coming spring.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I could already feel it coming, and now the signs are becoming more apparent.  This winter has been too long and too dreary and I think we all need a little lifting of the spirits, which spring will most certainly do.  Spring is my favorite season, and as far as I'm concerned, it has sprung!   

Hold On...It's Coming!

Hello to my fellow peeps who've been suffering through this long, cold winter like I have.I just wanted to let you know...it's almost over!  The end of February is near and I am starting to see signs.. Oh, they're small, but they're definitely there. Yes, in the past two weeks it's been brutal, with temps often in the single digits and wind chills below zero.  The cold has put almost everyone in the doldrums and I think we've all got to start thinking...spring!  I know I am.

Even though the past two days have been some of the worst so far, the massive ice that's covered all the previous snows and our streets and our driveways is starting to melt away.  Oh, it's going slow, but I can just feel things inching steadily towards the next season and a brighter mood.  The really cold snappers are becoming a shorter duration.  Yesterday was extremely cold early, but  by 11, the temperature was already in the 20's, and if you've been feeling the singles, the 20's definitely don't feel so bad.

The sun is going down later and later, and so the longer daylight brings more time for the ice and eventually the snow to melt away and that'll even get better shortly as we're gonna 'spring ahead' in just a couple of weeks.

So hold tight friends.  It's right around the corner, and very soon you'll start seeing those daffodils and crocuses and find yourself in a better mood.  The Spring Awakening is coming!   

The Winter Doldrums: I Think I'll Just Stick It Out!

This is why old folks move south...I understand now!

That was my friend Joann in a text message last week during a conversation about our respective experiences with the aftermath of...um...Juno.  (The recent and baffling naming of winter storms is a most ridiculous practice that is annoying, but that's a topic for another time!)  That was the first major snow storm of the season, and Long Island got hit the hardest with more than two feet of the white stuff in most places, including Patchogue, the town where I live.  It was windy and it was cold, and with snowdrifts, shoveling of up to practically four feet of snow was not out of the question.  I totally understood what Joann meant...

Here we are, a week later, and things have gotten worse.  Winter is in full swing, a little late, but it's here, and the south is looking better than ever!  This week's storm was a little different, as what started out as snow early Monday became a heavy, heavy rain that caused a lot of heavy slush to shovel, and then an arctic blast came in and turned everything to ice.  And it's only February 3rd!

For awhile there I had hope that we might just escape winter's worst, as snowfall events before last week were nil, but now if feels like there is so much still to come.  Snow is forecast for Thursday and then again Sunday into Monday.  Ugh!  And the roads are icy as hell!  Well, just like those Ziggy Days we all get once in awhile, we have no choice but to deal with it even though those winter doldrums can be so nagging and depressing.  

So for the rest of this winter, I'm going to approach it with a positive attitude and try and make the best of it.  After all, winter can be beautiful, and I always like to say that because of winter, we here up north have a better appreciation for the beautiful weather when it does come in just a few weeks. So for those of you in the south, yeah, I am a little jealous, but how often do you get to see a sunset like this...

All we need is a warm, sunshiny day

UGH!  Another winter storm is coming!  I tell ya, I am totally sick of this crap, and I'm sure everyone around me is, too.  To now this has been one of the brutalist of winters, with no less than four or five significant snowstorms, as well as some pretty freaking cold weather, too!  And it is going to snow again...UGH!!!

Just a couple of years ago, I would be saying right now that I am in a Ziggy period, one of those times where just about everything seems to be going wrong.  I've been in a bad state of mind,for weeks now, but I'm not going to say that it's good ole Ziggy rearing his bald little head over my life.  I think it's just this constant cold and stress from the snow that's got me just wanting something, anything, to bring some sunshine back into my life.  And I am sure there are many who are feeling my pain right now.

We're now on our 2nd or 3rd layer 

of snow and it's all dirty, ugly!

I haven't really written too many personal posts lately.  I've been a little sensitive about it ever since I poured my soul a little too much, I think, three years ago.  I'm still a little embarrassed about that, but those posts remain for the same reason I first put them there.  If just one person reads what I wrote, or what I write, and sees them self in that post, then maybe they'll feel better knowing they're not alone, that maybe they're not as crazy or different as they might think.  We all get a little crazy in the mind sometimes, but then sometimes we need a little reminder that we're not the only ones feeling those feelings.

Anywho, so many things have been getting to me lately I don't even want to get into them all.  Between interpersonal problems at work, loneliness exacerbated by the weather, financial woes, overworking because of it, blah, blah, blah, but everyone around me seems a lil cranky these days, too, so maybe I'm not alone.  I think maybe all we'll all need is some sunshine and warmth to make us feel better.  Oh, we're all gonna feel so good that first warm, sunshiny day!

bradrobertben