Where’s winter?

Unless you didn’t bother to read the name of this blog or think it’s just a catchy title I made up, you realize I live in Maine. Maine is a place that when people think of it, they think lobsters, Stephen King and really cold weather with lots of snow. In my early years in Maine, when I traveled back home regularly just saying I lived in Maine was a conversation starter, starting with the obvious “There are Black folks in Maine” and “Damn, it must be really cold there”.

Well this spring I will be coming up on 8 years since I moved here and I have to tell you, um…its really much colder in Chicago. Seriously. There are only a handful of days each winter that have me putting on the real winter gear. Most days I am fine in a sweater and light coat and long underwear? Shit, I haven’t worn that since I left Chicago.

In fact it seems like every year that I am here, the winters are getting milder…in fact what prompted this discussion is the fact its 2 days after Christmas and it’s almost 50 degrees with rain. Yes, 50 with rain. Um…I told the kids we would go sledding but alas without snow we aren’t sledding anywhere.

Now there are parts of Maine (way up north or in the mountains) where its cold and they have snow and that seems to happen most years. But down on the coast where I live, it’s as if winter decided to take a permanent break. Now some of ya’ll might be asking what is the big deal. Well the longer I live here and the more in tune with nature I become, long story short we need winter so we can have a good spring and summer. So shit can grow and all that other shit. Frankly the natural order of things is screwed up when winter decides to take a break and I find that a tad scary. Now I know some parts of the country have been getting hammered by winter, hell some places recently got snow that never get snow but hey? What about us?

So winter, do you think you can make a return to Maine. See, I have learned to tolerate you and I would rather have you now and not in say April.

Hope everyone had a good holiday!