I'm one of the few people remaining in Wisconsin who secretly likes winter. There's something wonderful about the clean, white, sparkling covering of snow at night. And, as someone who suffers from allergies, I've really enjoyed the deep cold this winter because I haven't been miserable.
All that being said, I do appreciate that it's time for spring. Instead of waking up to the sound of neighbors scraping ice off of their car windows I'm looking forward to waking up to the sound of birds. And today I noticed that when I was driving, my car didn't fish-tail when I turned at an intersection. I still have some massive snow chunks stuck to the wheel wells of my car, but maybe those will even melt and fall off soon.
The seniors that we serve at Interfaith Senior Programs have had a tough time this winter. Not only do they end up staying indoors, either afraid to drive in the snow and ice, or feeling that's it's too cold to venture out, but the very cold temperatures create a lot of pain for people with arthritis. When arthritis becomes painful, it's a natural tendency to move less, and that makes everything hurt a little more. I'm hopeful that the next weeks will begin to provide some warmer temperatures so that our seniors are able to get out of the house and feel the sun again.
And it won't be long before we're talking about the heat index.