Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Oh how I've missed this

Today? Was kind of amazing. It was sunny and 40 degrees, which I realize isn't all that warm but it sure as heck felt like it. Around noon Quinn happened to notice Meghna, a girl who lives a few houses down from us, walking by our house with her grandfather and wanted to join her. So we spent some time playing out in the rapidly-melting snow with her and then went for a short walk around the neighborhood together. 

Quinn & a neighbor playing in the melting snow. Yay for sunny outdoor time. Out for a walk. A couple minutes after this pic he tried to slyly take her hand. She refused. Getting used to rejection early... 

After picking Donovan up from school the boys were having a snack and noticed Meghna on her porch so asked to go outside again-- we spent a good hour or more outdoors this afternoon, just pushing trucks and drawing with chalk and stomping through the leftover snow. And everyone else was out, too-- we watched a steady trickle as almost every family in Sachem went outside to play or even just for a walk.  After months of hibernating indoors, it was like the whole neighborhood was coming alive again. I saw and got to talk to friends I've hardly seen since the fall. 

Playing! Outdoors! Untitled I am *so* excited to return to the days of outdoor playdates and impromptu gatherings with neighbors.

At one point I was watching the boys playing on the sidewalk with their friends, watching so many other families outside enjoying the weather, listening to the birds singing in the trees, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the clear signs of spring. I've felt that longing for warmer weather, but it's not the warmth so much that I've missed... it's what comes with it. One of the things I loved so much about this place when we moved in, and through the summer and fall, was the way we could just go outside to play for hours at a time, how many other kids would be outside as well, how easy it was to meet people and make friends and run into each other for casual playdates without having to send 50 emails or texts back and forth trying to coordinate something together. I didn't realize till today just how much I have missed that. It also stayed light until after 5pm, and with us "springing forward" this weekend we're about to get even more daylight at the end of the day.  I think I've fared pretty well all through winter, dealt well enough with the cold and the darkness and the snow and ice. And I know it will still be cold for a while and there's still snow on the ground and they still needed boots and mittens and blah blah blah don't burst my bubble. But to be outside today and have it feel so much like those late summer and early fall days, to think of spring ahead and all that means... I just can't begin to describe how happy it makes me.

(I realize that talk of the weather has kinda taken over my blog, and it's what I write about almost more than anything else these days. Which I suppose is to be expected when you spend so long living someplace with no weather, then move someplace that actually has weather changes and seasons and stuff. I'm hoping the novelty will wear off once we've gone through one full cycle and then I'll be able to focus on other things to write about. Maybe.)

4 comments:

  1. It's amazing how warm 40 feels in the Northeast (in the spring at least). Love reading about the weather from your perspective!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is our fourth winter and a lot still revolves around the weather. The coming spring is always a positive thing, longer days and reconnecting with people in the neighborhood, even more so now with the kids.
    And while I know we are still in for a few more dumps of snow, it is exciting to feel like the end is soon(ish)

    I remember thinking people who said they missed the seasons were silly when I lived in Santa Barbara (what? You dont like perfect weather year round??!?) but I do see now that it gives a structure to the year, and you appreciate the warm months that much more (although year round good weather was pretty nice too :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. we had a similar warm, sunny day here in southern ontario. and, i completely hear you on the wonderful things the warmer temperatures bring... the birds, the laughter, the hibernating world coming back to life! i love winter and all the fun it brings with it, but i am exhausted of getting the kids dressed in their layers and trying to get from one place to another by foot.

    i love weather talk. i love it all!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad you guys don't mind me blabbering about the weather all the time. ; ) Here's to spring!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...