Transitioning

Just yesterday, I was writing about the weather. It often behaves in a semi-predictable manner, but every now and then it does something you weren't expecting, especially if you're not keeping careful track of it. Yesterday, much of the ice and snow was in the process of melting, or had already melted. Last night, it snowed, yet again. I had to spend an hour and a half shoveling snow from the driveway and sidewalk. This strikes me as a very strong contrast to how the weather was one week ago.

Monday (of last week) was a warm day, relatively speaking. The temperature was climbing up into the forties (Fahrenheit), though it did drop down in the following days. I was highly aware of the temperature, and the effects the temperature was having - the snow and ice that covered much of the ground was melting - at least partially. Please note that I said partially, not completely. There was still plenty of ice on the sidewalks, except much of the ice had gained a coating of water. For those who don't know, this condition makes the ice even more slippery than it already is, and nearly invisible depending on what angle you are viewing it from. I'd rather not think about how many times I slipped (just as well, I lost count - but I did get into double digits). Though I did manage to avoid falling, it was close a few times.

It was somewhat depressing to have to go through all of this. I get to experience a warm, sunny day. Then it gets cold and cloudy. Then a bunch of snow falls. It feels like a sick joke. I am presented with enjoyable weather, only for Mother Nature to shout, "NOPE!", and then she make things miserable again.

Now that I sit down and think about it, my least favorite weather is transitional weather. By that I mean weather that comes between two distinct seasons or weather patterns or something along those lines. Monday was a prime example: cold weather being replaced with warmer temperatures, only to revert back to the cold. For the most part, I don't like them because such a changing presents a new set of problems to deal with. In the case of Monday, a natural hazard (ice) became even more hazardous (covered in water) due to the change in the weather (rise in the temperature). And in the following days, my mood suffered because I was shown pleasant weather, only to be reminded that it will be about two more months (at least) until that kind of weather becomes a regular occurrence. While that was an isolated incident, in a few months we will be facing an entire season of transitioning weather: Spring.

I suppose that I like Spring and Fall, but I don't care much for the weather they bring with them. That's mostly because it keeps fluctuating from day to day, or even during a single day. There have been plenty of Spring days when the temperature was about twenty degrees (again, Fahrenheit) warmer in the afternoon than it was in the morning (at least, that's how it felt!). And during the Fall, when things are cooling off, there are going to be a few warm days. While I do enjoy those warm days, they make me feel a sadness as well. In the back of my mind, I am lamenting the fact that this may very well be the last nice, warm day of the year. Yeah, there will be sunny days, but the effect will be partially ruined by the fact that I had bundle up in Winter gear just to go outside.