Igloos And Dog Sleds

Sorry, folks, Blogger was down for the last two days. Some comments have been lost (although they might still come back), and we haven't been able to post today's article till now (which makes it even more redundant :) ––you'll see!)

Barbara: You know the cliché where we Canadians drive around in dog sleds, live in igloos, and it’s always -25 out? Well, this year, here in Toronto, it feels like we’re living the cliché. I’m half-tempted to gather the dogs and slap up the igloo!! Okay, it’s not -25, but it is the kind of spring cool that just seeps into your bones and never shakes itself out.

I’ve been waiting to put pansies in my garden for the last three weeks. Pansies––the hardy cold-weather flowers. Well, too cold for them. I’ve been staring dolefully out the window, bike still hanging from its hook in the garage, wondering where the heck the sun is and why the hell the rain is pouring so relentlessly.

I know Deb and I have bantered about weather in the past (she’s for it, I’m against), but I just feel like the worst kind of pouty brat these days. I need my outdoors! I need sun! I need to feel the warmth of it on my skin!

And PS: the vision of me spinning, arms outstretched, face tipped up to the rain is not my idea of child-like bliss. At all.

My front porch on, yes, a rainy cold day...

Most years, I spend the entire spring out on my front porch. My porch has got its own little eco-system up there. The afternoon sun streams under the overhanging roof and warms up the brick and furniture pillows around me. Or if it’s raining but sufficiently warm (which is often here in Canada, I swear!!), I even have an electrical outlet to charge my computer. But this spring, even wrapped in blankets and fleeces, I’m never warm enough. I am still as cooped up as I was all winter.

Help! Does anyone have a sure-fire fix for what threatens to become SFAD (seasonal fucking affective disorder)??? I mean, the people around me are seriously at risk.

Barbara’s PS: Okay, confession time: so I wrote this last week when we were in the throws of ceaseless cold weather, but then sidelined posting it as I was feeling all political and stuff and wanted to write about that. Now, this week, I am sidelined by a whopper of a cold—the kind that makes even looking at the computer screen an onerous chore (sore eyes, congested chest, midnight coughing fits wherein I banish myself to the basement guest room for fear of waking my beloveds). So when I found this blog-post still waiting on my computer, I thought, what the hell. Shouldn’t tell you that it’s been warm and sunny and my daughter is even sporting a mild sunburn on her chest from reckless sun-worshipping. I know: “wah wah”.

Deb: Deb: First off, I am glad that Barb came clean and fessed up to the fact that the blog was written pre beautiful weather. It has been stunning, warm and sunny. Secondly, those of you who follow the blog regularly, you know that one of my pet peeves is complaining about the weather. Barb read me this one with some reluctance! :-)

As I have said many times, if it is raining and you are miserable about it, then it is raining and miserable. If it is raining and you embrace it, the day holds endless possibilities. I am still that gal who can lift my face to the dark clouds and smile.