The sun has stopped making appearances in the Northeast. Infrequently it peeks from behind thick clouds and laughs at us after torrential rainfall. It has made a deal with Mother Nature to disappear so she can inflict more cold on us for the next few days or maybe weeks. The trees are still naked of their spring solstice wardrobe. Not one of them has green leaves in New York City. There isn’t one blade of grass that wasn’t previously a carpet at Home Depot. I am tired of wearing gloves and standing in the chilly rain under a gray sky instead of seeing vibrant sunsets. What the hell happened to spring?
I used to tell people that spring was the missing season here. You’d have winter lurking about like the creepy neighbor you thought moved away. Then its late May and suddenly the temperature hits the 80s, drops to the 50s for the first few weeks in June and then goes to 90 for July and August. I was raised in the south where the seasons are more palatable. They come and go when they are supposed to. Except on April 6 it was 40 degrees in Columbus, Ga. A few days before it had registered in the 70s’. In the south they call this pneumonia weather. Its a spike in the temperatures that fools you into thinking it will be like this for days. Then the temperature drops again.
People in the south have put away their winter gear although they seldom use it. But this year was colder than most. Back in early March Columbus, Ga, got 6 inches of snow. Unheard of. Of course it didn’t last long. That temperature spike the next day lasted for a week. In New York there are the hopeful fashionistas bravely wearing their new short skirts and spike heels under their down filled coats. In Buffalo, well I don’t think spring gets there until August. They might be down to two seasons. My husband’s late grandmother used to say the weather hasn’t been right since man went to the moon. No scientific proof behind that, but I think about when I am waiting for spring.
Its partly a wardrobe issue for women. We are supposed to be wearing cute little dresses and open toe shoes by now. We should be sporting silk and cotton and linen not wool, cashmere and leather. And most of us are tired of what we have been wearing since October. The same coat, the same scarf, the same sweater. Albeit warm and necessary its time for the trappings of winter to go into mothballs. Bring on on yellow and pink and lilac, push black and brown and dark red into the back of the closet. Its time for colors that let you ease into the summer. But not for us right now. We have no spring.
The season is trying to make an entrance, an appearance. Yesterday’s rain did bring flowers but how long will they last when the rest of the week is supposed to be cold? The restaurants have put their tables outside but who can sit there in cold wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour? Stores are trying to sell spring and summer fashions , short pants and sleeveless shirt, bathing suits and pareos, but its too cold to try them on. Easter Sunday you may see more coats than bonnets.
Not being of a scientific mind I can only say that the fault lies not in the seasons but in ourselves. I am prone to beleive those that preach global warming and warn of its consequences. The ice caps melting, polar bears having no place to leave and the lack of seasonal changes. It is a little daunting to think by the time I retire (if I so desire) to Florida, Miami may be colder than New York. But right now we must just sit and wait until Mother Nature stops trying to punish us for all the pollution and destruction we have caused to our planet. Maybe the summer will be too hot this year and maybe we will never get spring again. It could happen I know but I prefer to hope for spring.
