The past couple of days the weather where I live has been unseasonably warm. Or maybe, as some have suggested, it is a seasonal break in weather that occurs every year and I just don’t remember. Whatever the case, going outside and feeling the sun warm on your face and arms is fabulous.  Bare arms!  In January!

At this time of year I often think of people from generations long ago, before the modern conveniences of centralized heating, or even back before there were telephones and automobiles. I look out onto the frozen landscape and wonder, really wonder, how they survived. I know I fall on the wimpy end of the spectrum. I don’t deny that.  But still, it must have been so tough.

I think about how they must have cherished these warms days and how it must have given them hope that spring would eventually come. I would think that after living with day after day of winter you would probably begin to wonder. Heck, I wonder sometimes and I have the benefit of weather forecasting, vacations to warm locations and let’s not forget heat that keeps me plenty warm and toasty inside my house.

So the past two days I spent a great deal of time outside with my kids. We didn’t do much but let the sun wash over us. We walked through the still deep, but melting snow. We made big icy snow balls. We poked at the rivers of melting water with sticks. We spent time with no agenda. It was great.

This morning we woke up and the weather has turned. The sky is cloudy and it threatens to rain.

I am just happy we put our obligations aside, went and enjoyed the weather while we had the chance.