Its been a long, crazy cold winter.
But, if the thermometer is any indication, it seems to be over now.
Apparently, the temperatures are supposed to soar to double digits this week.
What’s up with that!
It’s not that I mind, it’s just that I won’t be here.
My goodness, I, along with the rest of the population has shivered and shook through many weeks of unrelenting cold. And even though I have this puffy and warm stylish black coat that even covers my derriere, I don’t want to wear it anymore.
I’m tired of it.
I’m tired of winter.
I want to wear my jean jacket and not have to worry about piling on 17 layers of clothes just to take the garbage out.
I want spring to be here.
The other day, wearing my reporter’s hat and packing the tools of the trade, namely notebook, camera and pen, I headed out to cover an event, a political event, actually. Jason Kenney was coming to little ole’ Rimbey to nail some planks into the UCP party’s agricultural platform.
I was ready, or at least I thought I was.
I headed out on Hwy. 53, turning north on Range Road 35, keeping my eyes peeled for political sign posts along the way.
There were none, but my first clue was a farm yard filled with a great number of vehicles.
Bingo! That must be it.
I drove in, looking for a quonset or some place that boasted four walls and warmth.
There was none.
Apparently Kenney was going to nail those planks in his political platform right outside, with the cows and the hay bales and a very friendly farm dog as the perfect setting.
And so there I was, notebook, pen, camera in hand, wearing one very light spring jacket, standing outside in the middle of March trying really hard not to shake my pen right out of my hand.
It turned out I, who have been an Albertan my entire life and should know better, was overly optimistic about wearing a spring jacket in the middle of March when winter was still hanging around, laughing and hysterically breathing blasts of icy cold air on us all.
But, every cloud must have a silver lining and every snowflake must eventually melt.
And my silver lining is I’m off on a holiday, taking a quick little trip down to Palm Springs where it is supposed to be hot, hot, hot and the words snow, ice and freezing temperatures don’t even exist.
It is ironical that it is also supposed to be short sleeve weather here.
But, oh, well!
I’m excited, I’m hopeful and I’m very optimistic about the chance to pack light, dress light and let the sun shine drizzle its yellow, mellow warmth all over me.
On the other hand, I’m not so sure I’m totally comfortable about revealing a lot of skin and shedding a few layers of clothing along with my winter inhibitions.
Christmas and my birthday came with an abundance of food and wine and, according to my scales, I have grown somewhat larger during that time.
I checked out my daughter’s scales the other day hoping they would tell a different story.
They didn’t.
My four-year-old grandson shrugged and said, ‘Grandma, don’t worry about it, you’re really old and really big, that’s just how it is.”
He made me laugh and cry (a little bit) because to Jacob it doesn’t matter one tiny bit if grandma is really old and really big, because she is still his grandma and that is what is important.
Sometimes, kids are very wise and they can skip effortlessly through all this self image stuff.
I like that about kids.
They have a way of knowing what’s important and what isn’t.
And they also have a way of making you laugh.
And cry!