It's Spring Again

This morning, I got up and went to church. Even though we had two friends of Fred's over for dinner last night and even though there was a time change last night in Europe, and I got an hour less sleep after going to bed late. (I think the time change is a week later in the States.) But I hadn't been to church in two weeks and I never go this long without going to church.

I walked out in my usual "winter drag" and I noticed that I didn't need all the clothing I was wearing. Not my scarf or my hat. It was nice. I didn't even need my sweater. I thought, I'm so happy I'm going to cry. Of course I didn't, but it made me realize how long this winter has gone on. It's been endless. It's almost worse than New York because I'm always on the bike.

In New York, every April I would say, "Why am I still wearing a heavy jacket and a hat in April! I say this every year!" I'm sure I'll have to wear a jacket for some time now, but it's nice that it's not just bitter cold, like it was.

The whole spring thing made me think of my pal, Sally. We were talking about women wearing those burquas. She said that when she was living in Florida, she walked around in short sleeves all the time and just got used to feeling the wind on her skin. She said it must be odd to never - or rarely - feel that. It made me think about how much I look forward to not wearing a jacket, to feeling the air blow across the skin on my arms.

For years in New York, the first few times I walked out of the apartment without a jacket on, I felt naked. I had to do a reality check - check to see if I was indeed walking the streets of New York naked - which I did once, but that's another story. I would wear a jacket for so long that it just became part of the armour that I used to face the world. When I didn't have it, it gave me pause.

It'll take a while for the weather to get really nice, but this respite from the cold is very nice. And, of course, Fred is chomping at the bit to get out of the house.