The weather.

It is surprisingly hard to NOT be obsessed with the weather when you live in the midwest.


Seattle weather was no joke but it was so predictable.  Looking at the weather forecast was NOT something I did regularly there, and I commuted on Bus, Boat and foot.  In Seattle the winter months were usually rainy and chilly somewhere between 35-50 and if it was slightly warmer or slightly cooler than that it was a pleasant surprise.  The summer was similiarly predicatable.  Warm and clear.  Again, there were be variations of that but they were not radical.

For those of you who know me well you might be thinking, "How is this surprising to you? You are from the Midwest?"

It is true, I am from here.  But somehow in my 22 years of living here I was not paying attention to the weather.  I literally cannot remember anything about the weather.  I have memories involving weather. I remember my uncle Jim using a fishing pole to fly a kite (and reel it in) on a cold windy day. But I don't know if it was fall, winter, or spring.  I don't know if that weather was unusual.  I have memories of snowfall- but I don't remember that being notable.  I just don't have a comparison for living here.

Every morning the kids ask about the weather.  They are finally getting the hang of things being utterly unpredictable.

 2 weeks ago I started documenting the weather every day.  I have a journal where at the end of the day I just write down what the weather was, "2018, April, 16" Snowy and cold.  High 33 low 25.  I am doing this mostly because I cannot get a sense of if this is normal or freakishly cold.  What am I supposed to be getting used to.

What does "normal" April look like? I don't know.

You might know the line, "if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes."  In Seattle that phrase always annoyed me.  I knew that people were spoiled by the relative predicability of their climate.  That phrase has more "truth" to it.


All in all, I am struggling with the weather.  This whole winter has been a struggle.  My mental health has been wavering and the weather has berated my sense of hope.  It is hard to find a float to grab onto when it is so cold all the time.  It is hard to dream about gardens and bees and warm weather and swimming at local pools when it is still so unbearably unbearable.


Comments

Popular Posts