A Tiny Taste of Spring

We are in the first full week of January and the current weather may be well considered spring for this time of year. In the harsh climate of where we live, we have extremes when it comes to winter and summer. We do not live near a large body of water, so here in Alberta, our summers can get up to +40 degrees, and winters can reach -60 degrees - that’s a huge spectrum. To be fair, each of these recordings were in different years and are at the extremes. Day to day averages are much more calm than that. Still, when I’m looking at our forecast for this time of year, it’s crazy that the daytime temperatures are going to be above 0 degrees all week long!

This kind of ties into my previous blog about starting fresh and looking towards the future and new goals. I tend to get a lot of positive feelings when the sun comes out to play (Don’t we all?) Currently, the sun is shining and reflecting all over the place. I expect the snow to start melting soon over the next few days. It won’t delete the snow pile by much (ours is about five feet tall!), but it does help me to know that spring and summer are on their way. I can already feel the days getting longer, if not necessarily warmer.

These warm(er) days give me a small peek into the future of 2025. I always look forward to spring as soon as the new year passes. Basically, as soon as Christmas is over, all the decorations come down and I look forward to the new year and setting up my planners. That fresh planner feeling is so good, am I right? Then, once the excitement of the new year wears off, I just yearn for spring and summer. But, by the time they arrive, I regret that I wished winter away so too, if only to prolong the enjoyment of waiting for my favourite seasons. Some people say that looking forward to something is half as good as the thing itself, but I disagree. I think the number is closer to 90%, because how many of us live in the moment all the time? I try to, but the moments are so fleeting. Unless you can capture those moments with a picture, moments last like the blink of an eye. Then, you turn into the camera guy - glad you caught it on candid camera, but you’re always behind the camera and never in the picture.

The essence of it is, despite experiencing a mild case of seasonal affective disorder this season, I’m going to enjoy it for what it is - a period of yearning for the brighter days ahead and envisioning how much fun we’re going to have and how many rays we’re going to soak up.

Here’s to looking forward!

Cheers,

Sandra