Looking out of my living room window reminded me of this Simon and Garfunkel song from 1966, although there is much more than “a patch of snow on the ground”. A steady light rain changed over to moderately heavy snow rather quickly. April is becoming a cruel month, at least concerning the weather. The weather forecasts for today have been in a state of flux for the past two days. Blending all the forecasts would mean the Twin Cities will get somewhere between 1″ – 10″ of snow. Nevertheless, once we make it through this latest wintry disruption, we supposedly will see temperatures approaching normal and (gasp!) maybe our first 70°F temperature of the season. We keep hoping this is winter’s last stand.
One coping mechanism humans have is the ability to anthropomorphize objects like the weather. Once we imbue the weather with human-like qualities, it becomes easy to assign blame. It gives us a sense of power in trying to make sense of something we are powerless to control and a focal point for our frustration.
My attempt at anthropomorphizing is probably similar to many others in this area. Winter is like the unruly guest that shows up to a party a couple of hours late, heavily intoxicated, moody, obnoxious, and refusing to leave after the other guests have departed. Trying to usher winter out the door leads to another unpleasant temper tantrum. Each tantrum is a little less intense and the cleanup is a little less disgusting. We can only hope that winter finally staggers out the door and keeps stumbling and weaving down the sidewalk without stopping and launching rolls of toilet paper into the trees.
I hope this is the last weather gripe for a while. It will be nice to get in the gardens, out on the hiking trails, putting some miles on the bicycle, doing anything but looking out the window and seeing snow come down. Chasing a snowblower is not as fun as chasing a Frisbee in a park. The only advantage about the snowy nights is for the people with someone to cuddle. I hope you are taking advantage of that!
Cuddle if you have someone, give your loved ones a meaningful hug, and let them know how much you care about them. They might be more inclined to help you clear the driveway.