The Winter of My Discontent

I just haven’t been feelin’ it lately ~ creativity, that is. I think I’ve finally hit the wall with this whole snow and ice thing. I’ve fallen victim to too much winter ~ too intensely and too incessantly. I moved to Colorado to escape the relentless grey and cold and snow/ice packed streets of the Midwest. For the first time in 32 years I feel as though I’m back there again. And I’m just as grumpy now as I was discontent then. Too many winters of discontent…

Colorado is known for its moderate climate. That, and the beautiful landscape, is why I decided to make it my home and raise my family here. It has been reputed that Colorado experiences 300 days of sunshine a year. I can tell you (after 32 years) that’s pretty close. Summers days are warm, with the evenings cooling off just enough to make a glass of wine and some conversation on the porch (with no bugs!) a lovely way to end the day. Autumn is absolutely golden ~ crisp and warm and bursting with color. Winter brings cooler temperatures and some snow ~ which melts within a couple of days (in the city; not the mountains). Spring can be the most interesting season when ~ just as you are ready for tulips to bloom ~ snow falls from the sky; heavy snow in abundant amounts. But, thankfully that too, melts quickly as that radiant sun beams down on us sitting at a mile high.

So to experience a crippling snow storm and cold temperatures that result in ice everywhere every week for 4 weeks in a row is just too much.

I get cranky. I grow to really dislike my surroundings. Walking nowhere but the neighborhood I’m growing increasingly unhappy with is not the pleasant way to start my day. Grrrr…

Things happen for a reason I guess. There must be some silver lining here. Let me see… where could that be?? Perhaps it can be found here ~ I have to express my creativity in some way, so finding new ways in which to photograph old things has stretched me a bit. I have renewed incentive to prepare the house to get it on the market; as well as searching out neighborhoods and finding that perfect new home. So I guess those two things will be my salvation to see me thru the storms.

Meanwhile, we’re bracing for temperatures in the 2-3º range and 4-8 inches of new snow over the next three days. And you know what I say… “When Mother Nature gives you snow and ice, give yourself tulips!”

I see lots of bouquets in my future…