I remember when weather was something I experienced, and not just something I read about on the Internet.
It’s odd to see something like this
and then walk outside into crisp 57 degree weather.
Most of my life, I’m used to living in regions that experience winter as a brutal force of nature, where freezing rain is a more-than-weekly occurrence and mornings mean having to dig your car out of the snow.
Nowadays, I live in the lap of meteorological luxury, where rain is considered an unkind weather event. And in some ways, I miss Pittsburgh, with its cloudy skies and biting cold winters. I miss the possibility of waking up to a foot of snow outside my windows. I miss the thought of sipping hot chocolate as the world outside is blanketed by white. It certainly made those few truly beautiful days each year seem extraordinary.
But at the same time, that’s a bit of a spoiled attitude, too. While I didn’t move to the Bay Area for the weather, I might as well enjoy it. I should take comfort in knowing that when we wake up tomorrow to go to our prenatal class, I won’t have to dig the ice scraper and shovel out of my trunk in order to even back the car out of the driveway. I should enjoy the fact that I almost never have to worry about where to put my heavy coat when I get to work. I should be thankful that taking out the trash is never a race to drag the containers to the curb before the air can chill me to the bone, a feeling that doesn’t leave your body for an hour.
So to all of you caught in this (as CNN calls it) epic snowstorm, I wish you luck and safety and much hot chocolate drinking. I’ll be thinking of you from what almost seems like a completely different planet.