Winter

Because I've been sick, I haven't been outside much in the last few days. When I went out today, I nearly froze to death. What's with the below freezing weather?! Let's bring back the blizzards. At least it's warmer when it's snowing.

I was thinking about winter this morning, and about the fact that, despite my hatred of the season, I still live in Utah. Why aren't I living in Arizona? I know some people couldn't take the heat in the summer, but I say, bring it on! (Of course, I've never lived there, so maybe I'd be singing another tune if I did...)

I came up with two reasons why I'm still here (besides the obvious, you know, my job's here, my family's here, blah, blah, blah), and those are:

First, the mountains. You just can't beat living ten minutes from a really good hike. Seriously, you can drive out of the city and be in wilderness within minutes. Nobody else around for miles. Love that.

The second one is that, as far as winters go, Utah really isn't too bad. I mean, yeah, we have the inversions (when the cold air gets trapped in the valley, along with the smog and pollution and gunk, and when I want to go jump off one of those mountains), but then there's always the February thaw, followed by another inversion and then the March thaw.

I spent a winter in Indiana, and it was cold. All the time. No change. Except when it got colder.

My favorite part about winter in Utah is how the thaws always seem to take native Utahns by surprise every year. It gets up to the 50s in February, and it's like the world is coming to an end. "Oh, it's global warming!" or "Man, can you believe this? Never seen anything like it!" Yeah, except for every February for the last 50 years!

Seriously, though, the old adage: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes" definitely holds in Utah.

Except during an inversion. I can't be sure, but it feels like they last at least 8 years (approximately).