We Wait and We Wonder

I just spent some time reading past blogs. I do that occasionally. Find out what my thoughts were a week ago, a month ago, even a year ago. Very quickly noticed a common thread. We have had winter for close to forever. Windchill last night was -49. I started writing about the brutal winter back in November. Will it never end?

A friend on facebook posted, yesterday, that they were golfing on Sunday and whether I would like to join them. She was just kidding of course. Not much better where they are as they live just up the street. That is cruel. I thought back to two years ago. That is when we moved to La Salle. We moved middle of February. By March 16 the golf course had opened. It was plus 20. I could only envision we had arrived in the promised land. How things have changed. Here we are two years later and by all indications we are living in a god forsaken arctic waste land. My apologies. I sound angry. I should. . . . NO. I am angry. I am tired of this. And so are countless others.

So we wait and we wonder. When will it change? We check the forecast. Even single digits on the minus side gives us hope. We grasp at straws. An old wives tale may be all we have left to provide us with hope. Remember what you heard as a youngster? “If march comes in as a lion it will leave like a lamb.” I think it is safe to assume that March came in like a lion. A hungry, grouchy lion. Probably has a hang nail or something. That gives me hope. Should mean that March will leave as a lamb.

What makes this winter so bad? Why does it feel worse than others? Probably because it is. Worst winter in many years. Then we get a short reprieve and the wind comes back with a vengeance. Add heavy snowfall to the wind and we have ourselves a situation. Travel is difficult. Just getting to and from work is exhausting.

It is getting to everyone. This particular piece has been written over a period of a week. Today is the fourth day in that seven day period that the weather has created significant challenges. That seems to have been the pattern for months. Arctic Vortex seems to be the new norm. The new term used to describe our weather. I am not young anymore and quite honestly cannot recall having heard that before. I think Arctic Vortex sounds like a good title for a movie. A thriller. A movie of survival. I may write the script for that. Just trying to figure out where in the movie we should barbeque the groundhog.

So we wait and we wonder. Wait for the turn around. Wonder why it is taking so long. Folks, there is hope. The forecast shows sunshine and zero for Monday. I know that will change. In fact may have already. But I will not look. In the meantime we can only hope for better things to come. It may be right around the corner. Then again it might take a few months. In the meantime I will wait for something better. It’s all I got. Just saw a picture on Facebook. A picture of a woman up to her knees in snow. The caption reads, "screw it, I am gardening”. Pretty much says it all. Make it a good one.