Hot & Cold...

I have never been a fan of cold weather, nevermind snow & ice. Born & raised in the South, I was lucky because snow was a rare occurance. Got ice most winters but usually didn't cause too much hassle. The only time I had to deal with the cold really was when I smoked & had to go outside to smoke. :-) When I lived in South Florida for 8 years, that was the main attraction for me-the warmth. I can't really say "the weather" because the hurricanes made me nuts & was the reason I chose to move away. lol But the lack of having any kind of a winter was great! It got down in the 40s or 50s maybe a combined total of a week or so for the entire year! I could handle that with ease. The only downside to it, & it really wasn't that big of a deal to me...it never got cold & gray & therefore, December never really *felt* like xmas. But considering I've not really celebrated xmas since I was a kid, not that big of a deal. *shrugs* Last summer, in Oklahoma, was unbearably hot! Yuck! The a/c wasn't working so that compounded the issue...lol...but it was definitely the other end of the weather spectrum that I don't enjoy either. It was starting to get cold when I left there. However, I went from just cold straight into the hell of SNOW! Ack!! When it was all said & done, I think they said something like all of the counties in the state of Washington, except for maybe 3, had broken their snowfall records! Holy crap!! I remember the 1st few moments after it began to snow. I felt...seriously...I felt like I was going to panic! I was *afraid* of the snow. :/ Watching the girls get excited about it & the sheer joy that it was producing in that car, in the middle of the night, in a strange new world, on the cusp of...something...breathtaking. I remember those moments as if they happened yesterday. I physically felt my dislike of the snow fade away. Then in the days that followed that 1st snowfall, came more. And the time spent taking the dog out or walking around in it with her, taking photos...finally seeing it for the beauty of it...testing the boundaries of the Outback's control & listening to her giggle, just being surrounded by this "magic" of the future & the time being spent together. *sighs longingly* A couple of weeks, technically, just a few hours of time managed to completely change my outlook & dislike. The week before xmas, being snowed in & alone...managed to change my thoughts back to negatives. Leaving there & going elsewhere where, again, I was surrounded in huge, massive banks of snow & ice. Walking the streets in the middle of the night with new friends (totally AMAZING people!) & feeling *happy* again or rather an attempt at happy...made the magic of the snow work it's wonders again a little bit.

I'm far, far away from all of that now &...mostly grateful about that. I mean, I was literally buried in snow from mid-December til February 2! I'm liking not being bundled up & frozen & everything is white. But...you want to hear the crazy part? I miss it. I miss it! Or...maybe...I dunno...*shrugs*...maybe I mourn the loss of it or...just miss the magic that it had created in those 1st few moments? I'm not sure. I miss some *PART* of it that I can't put my finger on. :-(