May I just say YAY!!!!!

It's still officially winter - at least until tomorrow - but I have windows open and the deck furniture out. I even have the umbrella up! I spent a few minutes picking up sticks, but the state of my yard is, frankly, appalling and distressing, so I just decided to sit on the deck and prop my feet up. This is just plain glorious.

I know that we'll have some rotten, cool, windy weather before it turns lovely for good. But a bit of sunshine, a little spring training baseball on the radio or TV, and swinging a golf club for the first time in over a year give me hope.

I need to so some research into Seasonal Affective Disorder, because I feel I may be a victim. The funk I get in every winter was especially bad this year, so I sure would love to be able to put a name to it, other than "I feel listless and sad and overall icky." I don't expect a miracle cure, but it would be nice to know that there are ways to at least alleviate some of the blue funk.

I know I've probably mentioned this before, but I often think about primitive man and how relieved they must have been every spring to see green things pop up and feel the warmth of the sun. I am pretty sure I know JUST how they felt.

Never thought I say it, but I really hope it DOESN'T snow.

My adult son posted something like this on Facebook: how, in his whole life, anytime snow was predicted, there was a little thrill to it, and no matter what it interfered with, there was something wonderful about watching it fall; this time (the third big snow predicted) he didn't have one iota of that thrill, he just wanted it NOT to snow. (I hope I paraphrased accurately, Eric.) I think he was wondering if that made him officially old.

I know just what he meant. I don't think, honestly, that my traditionally excited feelings about snow are completely linked to my job as a teacher. When it snowed that weekend in December, I thought it was kind of beautiful and got me in the Christmas mood, but I was glad it WAS on a weekend, although I had to admit that the late opening on Monday was pretty sweet. The first big snow last month, also on a weekend, was daunting, and I was very glad that my nice neighbor was able to help me get out, but I still was impressed by the power of nature and the loveliness of the snow covering my not-so-great lawn. The next big snow that paralyzed us pretty much did me in, plus my nice neighbor's snowblower went belly-up and I had to shovel the whole driveway by myself, except that another nice neighbor helped me with the mountain that the plow created at the street end. All I could do for those six days was fervently wish I was elsewhere! And, of course, there was the ice damming in my raingutters that had water pouring into my sunroom. But that's another topic for another day.

Now, we had been warned that another storm was in the offing; I had coincidentally put in for two personal days, and I jumped in my car on Wednesday afternoon and headed south for long weekend. While I went through about ten minutes of whiteout conditions on Route 81 Wednesday evening, it was pretty uneventful. At home, however, everyone was braced for Round 3, and, while it didn't amount to much, it did close schools for two more days and I think even the kids (seniors excepted, since they don't have to make up days) were sick of it. The good part was that I didn't have to sacrifice my personal days, although we now have two more days to make up, and, by the time I got home, the sun (and my nice neighbor) has cleared the driveway.

Now it's melting and my not-so-great lawn is peeking through and looks worse than ever - it's essentially a sea of mud - but I have NO longing for snow to cover its flaws. The roof is clear; the gutters are clear; I have an almost completely clear driveway. By this time next week, I expect most of the snow to be gone, even the huge pile on the deck.

I suppose by December I will be longing nostalgically for snow, but I'm pretty sure I won't want more than just a nice little aesthetic, purifying coating. And I really hope I'm somewhere where someone ELSE will be doing all the shoveling and worrying about it!