There’s gotta be a price we pay for this

Chicago has experienced unseasonably warm weather. Its been going on for a couple of weeks now and I have fought all temptation to fall for it. I have embraced playing outside, I’ve been in much better spirits as a result and I’m wearing milder temperature clothes. But I wasn’t emotionally invested in this weather at first. Somehow when I wasn’t looking I crossed over from just enjoying these favorable temperatures to feeling like my heart may break at the sheer mention of 50 degree weather let alone anything worse which it very likely may still be.

I felt like I couldn’t be happy with these wonderful temperatures because it is so unnatural for it to be 80 degrees in March that this must be a strong example of global warming. And as someone who is neurotic, I’m always concerned about the shape in which I’m leaving the world for my children and grandchildren. So somehow by celebrating the sun shining, I was playing a part in destroying our planet.

Then there’s the fact that it sometimes snows in April. So if I fully embraced these glorious days, it will sting more when winter comes creeping back. If I put away boots and snow pants, I’m guaranteeing the return of winter. Similar to the fact that our winter was more mild because Mother Nature must have known that my husband coerced me into believing a snow blower was a requirement in being a homeowner.

Not to mention a few years ago when summer just didn’t happen. Some of you may remember the summer of 2009 when we kept waiting for sunshine and warmth and it just never came. It was the worse slap in the face I could imagine from Mother Nature. We live in an amazing city that has so many wonderful things, yet our climate is miserable. Our only savior are the summer months when we can come out of hibernation and enjoy life in a way that we are unable to for months of winter. Without that necessary solace of summer, we are just left with the depression of cold, miserable winter. We need summer to give us the stamina to make it through the more brutal months. I, by no means, want to compromise months of beauty for a few fleeting weeks of sunshine in the middle of March.

For all those reasons I was not going to be committed to these beautiful days. But then I made the mistake of checking the forecast for the rest of the week. When I saw that the end of the week was going to be 50 degree weather, my heart sank in a way that I realized I was completely and totally hooked on this random heat wave. The irony being that 50 degree weather in March is actually good!!! I guess this is just another example of how my soul belongs somewhere else…like California. If it weren’t for my family and friends, I’d soooooo be outta here!