For the past week or two, I have been alternately amused and surprised by the weather reports. Or the extremes and disparities. I mean, I remember those anomaly days in VA where it was so nice, I had a t-shirt on in December. Last year, the day I left Chicago for Christmas, it was so warm, I forgot my coat!
For the past week, the highs have been in the upper 70s. Total t-shirt weather. Or if you are a Santa Barbie, bikinis and teeny tiny terry "cover-ups." I have been totally enjoying it. Makes the laundry schlep oddly pleasant, the 8AM class pretty, and the apartment nice and fresh from all the open windows. Meanwhile, my east coast kids, or even worse, my Chicago peeps, are in the throes of deep freeze. Chicago spent the better part of this week below zero, even before windchill. East coast was well below freezing. I feel minorly evil as I bop around in shorts (and then brag about it). The funniest moment I had was reading the Trib, who wrote an article surveying why people choose to live in Chicago. And they actually called out Santa Barbara as the absolute opposite, the "perfect weather." This week, that was totally the truth. But the inner Chicagoan in me felt kinda dirty, sad, homesick. Then I went outside and took care of that. The article made me think. I love Chicago. I have survived a Chicago winter. Why would I go back, after living in "paradise"? Because the summers make the winters worth it. Because those crazy winters have made the Chicago personality more hardcore. It's harder to faze them; and when it gets that cold, it builds a weird sense of community. We're all hatin' it together. And paradise has lame architecture, overpriced ethnic food, and just not as much fun. But paradise doesn't require the dork coat.
Today it is lovely all over again. Unfortunately, I woke up at 3PM, which limits the daylight. And then I made the mistake of roasting a chicken, which has trapped me inside. Oh well, it's not like I can't bike along the beach in my t-shirt tomorrow.
on the toob: Step into Liquid - a surfing documentary
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