Feb. 11, 2014: Its 34 degrees but the freezing, howling winds make 34 feel like 20 and the birds flying in different directions in the sky above me seem just as confused as the weather. Just yesterday we were all fine in our tank tops and short-sleeved “spring attire” — all of us were ready to say goodbye to winter and the weather seemed to be fully co-operative. Now, today, it feels like January again.
Feb 22, 2014: The weather today is beyond perfect. Perfect “sunglasses, lay your towel out and read a book on the grass” weather. Students are out flying kites and riding bikes, playing soccer and dodging flying frisbees thrown by other students like gunfire on a battlefield. In the Caribbean there’s a word, “skylarking” that perfectly describes the carefree atmosphere. Spring is actually in the air. It’s amazing how happy everyone is to be able to run in the sun. In the British Virgin Islands where I grew up we tend to take weather like this for granted because it’s the norm. Hot sun and cool breezes send people flocking to the beach – some sunbathe, some play beach volleyball, and others go snorkeling, scuba diving, or sailing. The more adventurous might hike the boulders of The Baths, a formation of huge volcanic rocks on the island of Virgin Gorda where people wade through crystal clear water to bathe in secluded grottos where tiny fish dart in an out.
Feb 27, 2014: More perfect weather today after a hiccup of cold air and freezing rain yesterday. I see eagles soaring in the sky and trees are starting to grow patches of green ontheir branches like tufts of hair on the head of a recovering cancer patient. “Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of thebeautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.”-A Sand County Almanac. It’s not too cold, not too hot — today is simply beautiful.
