Winter Is Dying

February 13, 2011

Winter is dying. I knew it would. It is like a boxer who has had a good fight. Boom! Bap! Pow! He has beat on the other guy several rounds but now he has a glazed over look in one of his half-closed eyes. He takes a step or two in the wrong direction. You know he will not make it. Your horse is not going to win. Here comes the sun.

Today was warmer. Blue skies and birds making bird noises. We are still in the first half of February but people think it is April. I like winter storms and the harshness of a strong cold front. I enjoy the moodiness of the gray cold wind. I like how the freezing temperatures can keep people inside. It controls them. But I can’t control these things. I am simply riding along watching them all happen outside my window. Oh well.

I went out in this warm February sun to do a few errands. I needed some coffee and bread and what not. I thought of a few things as I was driving around:

  1. Why do white people between the ages of 27 and 47 like to sit on patios? At the first sign of spring the patios all fill up with white folks wearing sunglasses. I like patios. I like nice weather. I am white. I do not understand it. I know it is nice to sit outside. I just do not understand what makes all these similar people do similar things at the same time.  I suppose this happens just like other things in nature do. Birds migrating. Bears hibernating. White people with beer and sunglasses.
  2. Why do people wear shorts on a warmer than average day? Today it was about 60 degrees. I saw many folks wearing shorts and t-shirts. Anyone have a beach ball? I alway think about how if it was 60 degrees in October people would wear jackets and long sleeve shirts. Kids would be at the school bu-stop in hooded fur-lined coats. I will wear shorts later in the year. One year ago on this date it was snowy. In 1993 in Atlanta we had the ‘Storm of the Century’ the second week in March. To each his own.
  3. What is the deal with Valentine’s Day? These days every real or half real holiday is a time to avoid retail stores. Why is this? Today I pulled into a shopping center near my house and it looked like 2 days before Christmas! I rode on through and drove back home. I couldn’t deal with all the folks. I did not need anything bad enough to go into Target with 10,000 other people buying red cards and candy. It seems like these days anything concerning a holiday is just about what you buy or don’t buy. Too many folks in too many cars with bags full of things.
  4. Christmas was not that long ago. In fact it was only about 45 days ago. Since then people have cleaned up the decorations and started new for the new year. One thing I have noticed is very interesting. Christmas trees are the center of the household holiday decorating. Families join hands and walk into the woods together and cut the perfect tree for the holiday festivities. Maybe not, but at least they go to the store or empty city lots with stringy lights and get a tree to make them happy. “You have to have a tree!”, they say. So what happens right after December 25th? You ride down the street, and like a dead homeless person, the once holy and revered tree is sprawled out in the gutter just down from the mailbox. Dead. Worthless. So yesterday. I don’t understand this either. Sorry tree.

It is good to get these things off my chest.

-Kyle


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