I miss winter

Winter only made a brief appearance, and I never thought I would say this, but I miss it.

The winter gear is already in the sale bins at the sporting goods stores, and the running store we went to last night was mostly sold out of gear. People believe spring has already sprung. They’re outside doing their training runs and hip deep in their fitness routines.

It’s absurd for it to be this hot this time of year.

It was hotter than this in 2012, but I don’t remember that year with fondness. Water was scarce, and the summer baked us. Fires raged all around the state, and when you went outside, you breathed in the smoke of thousands of trees burning. Coupled with the fact there were weeks over 100 degrees, it was not a fun summer.

And while I’ve availed myself of the sales, including bagging a really sweet water-resistant/wind stopping mid-weight coat, I’m starting to worry. Snow pack is doing pretty well, but high temps could start the runoff early. In fact, a number of streams are showing higher than average flow already.

When I located out here from the south, I was pretty sure I would freeze to death on a regular basis. My coats were not up to the task. I went out on Saint Mary’s Alice to learn how to self-arrest for a mountaineering class, and the wind cut right through everything I had. I’ve never been colder, before or since. I purchased a set of ski pants, not to go skiing in, but to walk to work in. I was actually pretty concerned about how cold any given day was on a regular basis, watching the temps like a hawk.

But now, I miss winter.

I miss the crispness the cold brings to the air. I miss the soft silence of a snow-covered evening. I miss the crunch of it underfoot. I miss the solitude it brings to even a crowded street in downtown.

I miss winter. I want it to come back.

I miss winter