Mowing the lawn in November… Sunday Musings
Even though it’s been 40 years since I left South Dakota, it still amazes me that I need to mow the lawn in the ‘winter.’
Growing up in a state as flat as this desk made winters particularly cold. The wind whipped across the plains and dropped temperatures twenty or thirty degrees. I remember mom telling us to wrap those scarves tightly around our faces, because “If we breathe in the icy cold air our lungs could freeze!”
I’m sure that was a bit of parental hyperbole to keep the rowdy Terry kids from leaving trails of scarves on the four-block hike through the snow to school . But at the time, my vivid imagination concocted a specter of broken lungs lying at the bottom of my chest cavity like pieces of a splintered mirror. I kept my scarf tied tightly.
After South Dakota, we moved on to California. Dad’s favorite mantra was, “It’s December, and we’re swimming outside!” He said that every December. We got it. He loved to call people in the colder climes and say that, usually several times during the conversation. We rolled our eyes and started to take it for granted.
Then I kept going west. On to Hawaii for the better part of my adult life. Not only were we swimming in the winter, we were complaining about the cold when it “got down to 65!”
And here I am in Phoenix. I mowed the lawn today and then planted winter grass!
I thought about all this because I just got back from a very cool week in San Francisco. You know, that magical place with lots of fog, on a bay? Windy? Cool? Hell, it was cold! I left Phoenix Tuesday morning around 10 AM. It was climbing into the 90′s as I parked my car and got into the airport shuttle. Forgot my coat on the front seat. No biggy. It’s 90!
Then I landed in SFO. At 2pm it was ‘warm’ for San Francisco in November. It was 50! I realized the last time I was “in 50″ was when I picked up flowers in Hawaii and followed the florist into the cooler. “No Problemo!” Exclaimed my driver. “You will be indoors. And I will pick you up again at the end of the week. Stay indoors and you will be fine.”
Right. I’ll stay indoors the whole week. I’m in San Freaking Francisco. I ain’t staying indoors! I ran a chilly eight blocks to the store that was supposedly three blocks away and found an army, a plethora, a ton, a whole city of overcoats stashed away in the basement! I had never seen so many overcoats NOT on people in my life. And they were on sale! woo hoo!
I found a very nice Anne Klein coat and wore it the whole week. First overcoat I’ve bought since 1968. Wore it onto the plane in San Francisco. Then realized I didn’t know what to do with it. It was my seatmate. Then my pillow. Then my cape, then a cape for my rolling suitcase as we walked though Sky Harbor Airport. The fairly light, down-filled jacket felt heavy as I boarded the shuttle in the 89 degree evening weather.
I have to find a home for it. I might go somewhere cold again this winter.
I didn’t wear it when I mowed the lawn today.
Beth
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Beth Terry, CSP, is a Professional Speaker, Author, and Trainer. She’s working on a new book. Keep your eyes peeled on this blog for more info.
© 2007 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc.
