My Weather Moods

As I’m writing this, I can just feel a bad “weather mood” trying to sneak up on me.  I don’t even have to go outside to know.  There is blinding sunlight illuminating my entire  living room, to the point where I almost need sunglasses inside.  If one didn’t know better, one would assume that it’s like Miami Beach outside.  But it isn’t.  It’s 20 frigid degrees! And the reason things are so bright is that the sun is being reflected off all the snow covering the ground.  I hate days like this.  It’s as if the sun is mocking me.  When it’s this cold, I want the sky to match. Give me some clouds.  Give me some overcast.  Don’t try to blind me with your fake “summer lighting.”  It’s just not right.

I don’t know if weather affects everyone like this or not.  But I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t weather-sensitive.  I don’t mean I get crazy or lose my mind or anything, but I AM always affected by conditions outside, whatever they may be.

It’s like a few weeks ago when I was doing a long list of errands.  I was walking through the parking lot on my way into the grocery store and the temperature was in the teens.  It was dark and gloomy and a light sleet was coming down.  Now if that were all, I would have said, “Okay, it’s winter.  What do you expect?”  But right then, to add insult to injury, gale-force winds began to blow, making my hair stand on end and slapping that sleet right into my face!  I recall yelling something like, “Oh, come ON!” as I rushed into the store.  Weather is like that, you know.  It can can get nasty…on purpose.

But it’s not just a case of whether or it’s sunny or raining or snowing.  It’s the whole atmosphere that’s created that can get under my skin or conversely, make my day.  Give me a day when it’s warm and balmy, with hardly a breeze and a big blue sky with giant puffy white clouds and I’m in heaven.  Days like that give me such a sense of well-being.  On the other hand, days like today, with that glaring sun beating down on the snow, well, they just piss me off.

I have a close friend, Rose, who loves gloomy days when the skies are overcast and it’s raining or at least threatening to rain.  She says they make her want to hide away and cuddle up with a book and a warm drink.  I can totally understand that.  I like moody days like that, too, especially in the Fall with the sound of geese honking overhead.

Weather provides the backdrop to our lives and, as such, should know its place.  The sun should learn how to share the sky with the clouds and stop being such a show-off.  The wind should be kept on a very short leash and learn to curb its destructive tendencies.  Snow should learn just when to quit. (After awhile, Snow, you stop being pretty and just start looking cheap and dirty!) And rain, although welcome, should never overstay its visit.

It would be so nice if the elements would cooperate with me, but alas, I know it’s not to be.  They’ll just continue to mold me to their will.  I’m the one who will always have to yield.  And with that said, you’ll have to excuse me.  I’m going to go close the damned blinds before I get sunburned!