My Love Affair

Looking over the past couple of posts, and then experiencing the almost winter storm that was more anticipation than actual storm over the past couple of days, i can't believe that there could be any other part of the country that experiences the changes that arkansas faces during the winter. 

(due to my limited knowledge of the climate of other cities, this is just a thought and in now way an actual fact)

but seriously, snow....a day almost in the seventies that allows me to open up all my windows AND have the ceiling fan on...and then a "winter storm" with temps constantly in the upper 20's/low 30's.   All within a ten day span?  

That's just flat ridiculous.

But i'm not complaining...it helps keep the "winter blues" away when spring days are thrown into the mix.  Plus it actually helps add the "freak" to "freak weather" which lets face it, is the best kind of weather.

In case you cannot tell, my love of weather can tend towards obsessive. The Weather Channel is in fact my very favorite channel on tv (and the most frequented website on my computer), i have a favorite meteorologist (shout out to Jorma Doran!!!), and my good friend Audra bought me a great little gift a couple of years ago for my birthday...my very own weather channel tee, right straight from the weather channel website!

Whenever a storm is rolling into town i will know about it as far in advance as they can tell you...and you can count on me being outside watching it roll in.  my love of thunderstorms is rivaled only by my love for the relaxing sound of rain which really may not even count because you could call them one and the same.  however I do not.

I have the hardest time ever deciding on my favorite season.  I go through a cycle of re-weighing my pro/con lists for each season and then declaring a new one a victor...this usually happens each time a new season rolls in.  But as soon as i decide on a new favorite, I automatically feel guilty for deserting the other seasons that have given me so much joy and do not deserve to be disregarded so quickly.  And then i just go back to the position of not having a favorite.  It's a hard vicious cycle that I'm not sure will ever quit.

i'm not sure why this is, but for some reason storms make me feel alive inside.  The more severe the storm, the more alive i feel.  I can't really explain why this is very well.  I've been thinking about my favorite type of storms a lot recently what with spring being so close.  And spring does in fact provide the absolute best storms ever, not to mention my favorite weather in the world...tornado weather! (while i do love the storms tornadoes produce i do not actually like the death and destruction.  This has been a point of concern several times and i do not wish to offend anyone who has experienced loss due to a tornado)

Because spring does provide my very favorite type of storms this has compelled me to declare it my favorite season several times.  But i've almost automatically had to withdraw my declaration due to my minds immediate reminder of the marvelous pro's the other seasons do in fact offer.

I tried once to capture my feelings as a storm was rolling in, and while it does not completely explain why, it does explain it a little bit.  So, here is a caption from my journal on March 30, 2006. Some of it is pretty cheesy and i thought about leaving it out...but let's face it friends, sometimes i myself can be pretty dagum cheesy...and i don't want to misrepresent myself. So here is the unedited:)

I love the uncertainty of the weather before a storm.  

The struggle between light and dark

My mood shifts with the wind

And the smell of impending rain sends my dreams into overdrive.

The coming storms means that tonight, anything can happen and it will be appropriate.

Love, tragedy, drama and insightfulness all ride in on the darkening clouds.

The unstable atmosphere is my future, uncertain and bound to change and be shown momentarily.