Winter Blahs

Winter in South Texas isn't really much to write about.  Oh, we occasionally have brief bursts of below freezing weather, sometimes with ice, and the fiercest of winds hurling against the windows and into the chinks and crevices in your house.  Most people here call those Blue Northers, but my family calls it Frito Pie weather.  Generally, however, every single person in a 300 mile radius of San Antonio loses their ever-loving minds, because OMG it is SO COLD.  Of course, they say that when the temperature falls below 70, too.  We're kind of wusses about the cold.  Even people, like me, who have lived in the north and experienced an actual winter with snow and ice and fuel lines freezing and such, complain about the cold on those days. 

Fortunately, those events are a rarity. 

What is more likely during the winters here are days that are just...gray.

 

Everything looks as though it has been filmed in the old black and white movie film.  The skies are overcast, and the temperatures are not really cold enough to qualify as winter, but cold enough to need to wear at least one extra layer of clothing. 

For my parents, it means putting on their parkas, because they don't do well with the cold at their age.  For me, it means adding a sweater to my wardrobe.  For my son, it means refusing to get out of bed in the mornings because he's too cold.  And for my husband, winter means switching from shorts to jeans, because he says the temperatures are just getting comfortable. 

We all secretly envy him. 

Some of the trees lose all their leaves in the winter, and stand forlornly, waiting for the spring.  I kind of know how they feel.  Winter in Texas feels hushed, as though every living thing is waiting for...something.

We're waiting for something.

But what? 

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo? 

The San Antonio Spurs to come back from their Rodeo Road Trip?

A groundhog to come to his senses, evolve, and move down here?



No. We wait for days when the clouds disappear and the sun comes out and warms us, where ever we are.  I like to sit out on my patio on these days, and let the sun warm my bones and add a little glow to my skin.  Everything feels perfect on those days, if the sun is shining.

Check out Mamakat and her group of wonderful writers.  The prompt I chose was #2. A photo journal entry…show us what winter looks like in your town.

A Little Bit Of Spring

On my way to my car yesterday, I found this little beauty.  It has survived temperatures in the twenties, freezing rain, and icy winds. I confess that I admire this flower, and it was just what I needed to see on a cold, miserable, dreary day. 

So I thought that I would share this little bit of color with all of you, since I know that most people are dealing with frozen pipes, icicles falling on vehicles, and hyper children stuck at home instead of at school. 

No matter how cold the winter, spring will come.