Longing For Summer But Would Settle For Spring

Summer, where art thou?

As I opened the front door of my house early Wednesday morning of last week the brightness of the still dark setting cause me to do a double take. After I looked again I realized what the problem was: it had snowed.

Snow can be a funny thing. I remember as a child always wanting it and it seldom arriving. I remember getting excited at the mere mention of even a few snowflakes and how I would anxiously look upward hoping to see any flurries blowing in the wind.

Yet, more often than not, that childhood snow would never arrive. To be honest, I wanted snow back then because it would mean the possibility of a day off from school. If we even got half an inch, I would hunker down by my radio listening for word if my school was closed the next day. Every now and then the magic words would be heard and I knew a bonus vacation day had been delivered, kind of like an extra Christmas present or a very early birthday gift.

On the very rare occasion, we would even get a couple days off, but that was as rare as the Atlanta Falcons making the playoffs.

Fast forwarding to today, the roles are reversed. If I never see snow again, I wouldn’t complain. It causes too many problems from travel to the power going out to my power bill skyrocketing.

So it came to pass last week that I had my fingers crossed, my lucky charms out and hoped somehow the snow wouldn’t arrive.

I realize the kids probably enjoyed this recent snowfall. Heck, I’m sure some adults did as well. But for me, all I could do was think about summer — and being in Hawaii. Oh, for the bright, warm sun to be shining down upon me. Oh, for it to be warm enough to spend the afternoon swimming and to enjoy an outdoor cookout. And unfortunately the closest I’ve been to the Aloha State is watching episodes of Hawaii Five-O (the original of course) on DVD.

Those were the things on my mind as the white flakes fell from the sky. Besides, this is Georgia. We aren’t supposed to have to worry about that type of weather. I’ll leave it to our neighbors up North who are more accustomed to it.

For me, give me spring and give me summer any day of the week. I’ve had my fill of winter for this year. The weather during the past week was the final straw for me thank you.

Fortunately, winter in Georgia can be bi-polar. While we have seemingly lived within a freezer for most of the last month, this past Sunday was a reminder of why we should be thankful to live where we do. The temperatures were in the mid-60s with a bright, warm sun overhead.

As I took my lunch break I went to my vehicle, reclined in the seat and soaked up the warmth. For a little while anyway, the recent weather woes seemed to be over.

Of course we still have a long way to go until summer or even spring for that matter. However, if the weather gurus can throw in a few more days like the one we had on Sunday then maybe, just maybe, I can survive.

* * *

With 2018 being such an important political one with a host of statewide elections in Georgia, I feel it important to bring up an item which has been political in nature.

Many people were upset (rightfully so I agree) at how some NFL players took a knee during the playing the National Anthem. I wonder, however, why that same level of outrage has not been heard with the government shutdown which means our servicemen and servicewomen cannot be paid for their already too low salaries.

Meanwhile, politicians continue to receive their pay. It seems to me that is worthy of protest. Both parties are at fault and I would hope we all would put our armed forces personnel above any political party. Until we realize that both sides of the two-head political monster are at fault, nothing will change.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.