Whether or not you like the Weather

It is April 18th. That sounds like spring, yes? Well, here in our neck of the woods the vast majority of us have taken off our snow tires, washed and stored our snow suits, pulled out the sundresses and sandals, and even worn capris at least once this month.

And today it is snowing.

I mean, snowing. A fair bit. Not a blizzard. Just like someone is going a little overboard on the icing sugar on their olie bollen. (shout out to the Dutch among my readers! Woot!)

Without sounding like a total Pollyanna, I really, really still think it is pretty. This is a change in my heart. I've not always been a happy weather girl. Historically, I have only been content when the skies are clear, the sun is tempered, and the temperature is between 16 and 24 degrees (for my American readers I'm speaking Celsius, not Fahrenheit. I know that to convert that for you I need to do something with the fraction 5/9ths, but I don't remember what. Let's just say I like the mercury to hover around 60--70F...close enough).

My operating system seems to overheat pretty easily, so a crisp fall day or a cool spring morning, either of which require jeans and a light sweater, make me very, very happy.

In my vocabulary, there are a couple of 'bad words' that I tend to avoid. One starts with a "sh" and the other starts with a "b"...(shorts and bathing suits). Not only do I tend to avoid the words, I actually tend to avoid those articles of clothing. Truthfully, I do not own a pair of shorts and haven't for about 10 years. And I only have a bathing suit on account of the water polo game I've promised to play at our church's women's retreat in June. Seriously. There have been many, many years when I 'forgot to pack it' and had to sit out of the game entirely. Shucks.

Why am I rambling about the weather? Well, it is all reminding me of one year in university in particular: possibly 1994. It was April. We were in exams. And we all came in tanks and shorts and flip flops. And we all sweat like so many pigs stuck in a barnful of desks and stacks of paper, with no ventilation, for 3 hours. I remember thinking it was so demotivating to put forth a good effort on that exam because I was so.stinking.hot that I couldn't care any less about finishing well: I just wanted to finish and get back to an air conditioned mall. What? It's unreasonable to only take 45 minutes to do a 3 hour exam? Whatevs.

However, the very next year, to the very day, was Easter. And as our church held their Sunrise Easter Sunday service in beautiful Victoria park, I stood there, in my Easter sundress, my pretty Easter sandals, and my parka. With an inch of snow at my feet.

Fickle though she may be, Fair April is always good for a test of our contentment. And our sense of humour. Maybe April feels that the Fool's Day needed a full month this year.

Now excuse me: I'm considering going out and building a snowman. And putting an Easter bonnet on him.