I know, all of you who live beyond the mildness of Central Texas smirk and roll your eyes when we talk about how
The big coat AND the pashmina, which I didn’t realize I needed until I got one (and went to New York one October).
But, last week, it was really cold. It got down into the twenties! Truly. Plants had to come in and/or get covered up. Pipes and faucets had to be wrapped or left dripping. And we hadn’t seen the sun in d-a-a-a-a-a-a-ys! (I know, some of you live that way all the time. But we don’t, and it freaks us out.)
Yes, I know. Layering. Put on layers of clothing. That does work, for the first three or four layers. Then, unless you have an entire wardrobe of clothes in a larger size, it’s like stuffing a sausage. By time you put on a few more layers, to stay warm, you can’t bend your arms, and, as someone said to me, you’re like Ralphie’s little brother in A Christmas Story.
Last Wednesday, I went to the elementary school for Reading Club. It was still cold and dreary, but the forecast was for milder weather in the next couple of days. When the girls had gotten their lunches and come to me, the first thing they said was, “What’s it like outside?”
“It’s freezing cold,” I said.
“Oh,” they said. “We haven’t been out.”
“Of course you’ve been out. You came to school this morning,” I said, not quite understanding.
“But we’ve been in all day.”
“It’s still cold,” I reported.
“It’s supposed to be 62 on Saturday!” they said, with a weather-related excitement I don’t usually see in kids that age, unless it’s for snow, which we’re pretty much always tickled about.
Later, at church, I was telling some friends about the girls’ enthusiasm for a break in the weather.
“Yeah,” said another Reading Club volunteer, who had also been at school on Wednesday, with a group of 2nd grade boys.
“My boys said it was going to be 62 on Saturday.”
Was there some kind of weather announcement at school? If you can just hang on for another day or two, it will be SIXTY-TWO degrees. AND SUNNY!!
Another church friend helped me understand the situation. “They haven’t been able to go out to recess,” she said. “They’ve all been stuck inside all day. For DAYS.”
“Oh” Yes, I see how that could be making everyone weather-aware. And, considering that our school is in a lower-income neighborhood, many kids probably don’t have appropriate clothes for spending more time outside than the necessary bus-to-school-door and back again runs. For some kids, the school day may be the only time they’re warm.
I asked the girls about their weekend plans, especially since they were having a long weekend, what with their MLK Day Monday holiday.
“I’m going to the mall,” was the unanimous plan. (They spend a lot of time at the mall. Not with each other, usually with their families.)
This week, on Tuesday, I asked how they actually did spend their weekend.
“It was sunny,” one said, dreamily.
“I went to my friend’s,” said another. “We went outside.”
The third went to Houston to visit relatives. “It was nice outside.”
No mall trips.
They saw the sun.
As they finished their lunches, they talked more about the nice weather, until I finally said, “You know, winter’s not over yet.”
And they looked at me, startled.
“Really,” I said. “We have the rest of January and all of February, and even in March we might have more freezing weather. Maybe it will stay nice. But maybe it will be cold again.”
I felt like the springtime Grinch, stealing away the joy and happiness of warm days, flowers, and sunshine. For myself, I have enjoyed the warmer temperatures (I worked outside for a couple of days) and the sunshine. I’m not completely ready for spring, yet, but 60 degree days and 40 degree nights are all right. Of course, for some of you, those temperatures are springtime days.
The Reading Club girls, unlike the February groundhog, have seen their shadows, and they are enchanted with them. “More sun! Give me more sun! More! More! More!”
Now think of the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and greenish, as soon as it begins to sprout leaves, you know to expect summer.
Matthew 24:32 (The Voice)
I *love* this thing!
Nothing around here has tender and greenish twigs, so we appear to still be in the grips of winter. The weekend’s sun has taken refuge again behind big ol’ gray clouds, and it’s supposed to rain. I’m about to go take refuge in my bathroom, where there is a marvelous wall heater that I turn up full blast when I shower, or leave on low during the winter days (and more importantly, nights). It does a nice job of warming up that small space. I can go in there and read for a while, when I get chilled. A blessing.
It’s actually COLD in Houston, 40 degrees with a north wind. We’re warm, packed in the tiny waiting room, with dozens of others, all awaiting news from Labor and Delivery. Things are moving v-e-r-y slowly!
So, Baby is showing Mommy who’s in charge. It’s nice he’s defining things early on, so when he’s two, it won’t be such a surprise.
Looking forward to the arrival news. I probably told you, a couple of years ago, about how JoAnne’s first grandson was three weeks late … And stubborn about it to the very end. Surely yours will get a move on, soon. Maybe you should go and have a chat with him.
At one of the elementary schools where I work, the front office will announce on the intercom daily if recess will happen inside or outside. Last week, after several VERY cold days, the office decided to let the kids outside. There were collective cheers from a number of classrooms when the announcement was made. Made me smile.
Outside is just so much more … freeing. You can yell more loudly and run faster and farther. And get more worn out. It’s a win-win.