"I dream of a hard and brutal mysticism in which the naked self merges with the nonhuman world and somehow survives...Paradox and bedrock."-Edward Abbey

02 March 2010

Above Freezing...or, A Late Winter Heatwave

The part of me that remembers living in the rural south around tent revivals, televangelists, and other forms of zealot, wants to jump up and shout;

"Praise be to hey-Zeus! My prayers have been answered!"

And I'm not necessarily the preying type. Well, not in that sense, at least...

The air has been steadily warming over the last few days. Finally, for the first time in a month or more, the mercury has climbed above the temperature of frozen water. Meteorological prophecy shows the trend to continue for the next few days. There might even be some mid-thirties on the fahrenheit scale.

I am filled with joy, finding this to be a happy thing. The taste of sun on my face was like a kiss from the Divine...with a little-make that a lot of-tongue. I found myself comfortable outdoors without a jacket. It was commented it was warm out, and that's why some the local businesses were slow. I remarked with a wry smile it was downright hot.

Yes, it's true, here in the sub-alpine, above freezing in late winter can qualify as balmy. I've come to appreciate thirties and forties on the fahrenheit scale. A summer heatwave consists of temperatures getting near eighty, if they ever got above that, I'm sure there'd be those who dropped dead of heatstroke.

Oh, I'm sure there's someone on the Alaskan frontier, or perhaps Siberia, or maybe even Antarctica that call me a pussy. And I won't even try to second-guess the reactions of possible lifeforms in Europa's equatorial regions. What a flatlander calls cold I might catch myself snickering at, depending on my mood, just as they might scoff at my idea of hot. But, be that as it may, it is all a matter of perspective.

Here and now, I'm enjoying the fact it's simply a nice day out. The snow is melting and the dirt streets are mud. I cannot see my breath when I step outside, and it's not quite as chilly without a jacket. This is just fine with me. I find myself smiling with a sense of hope; there are warmer days ahead.

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