Perpetual Winter

After the excitement of the holiday season dies down and the new year becomes old news, winter becomes a dreary period of time, a tiresome obstacle one must suffer through to get to spring. Long gone are the days of excitement over a new snowfall or in my case, living in California, a rainfall. In December, there is nothing I love more than winter and constantly wonder what it would be like to live in a place where it actually snowed. In December, winter means bundling up to go ice-skating and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. Winter is essential to the holiday season and so during this time, winter is embraced and cherished. As the holidays become a distant memory, winter becomes an encumbrance, the long bridge to cross on the way towards warmer weather and the rebirth of the world. Winter tempts and taunts in California. A warm January afternoon may reach 72 degrees and spring does not seem so far away after all. The next day, I will wake up to see frozen grass and a car thermometer that reads 33 degrees. I should not be surprised. Winter has a way of tricking people—you think it is over and then it is back the next day, stronger than ever.