Uncle, Already!
Posted by Amy Jones on April 9, 2009 - 16:47 PM
To the gods of wind and rain and snow I say, “UNCLE, already!” It has been the most bleak, miserable, depressing late winter/early spring I can remember. If it isn’t snow, it’s ice. When it isn’t raining, it’s windy. And if the sky is clear and the sun is out, it rarely gets above 40 degrees. My poor dog has forgotten how to walk on a leash. Last year’s sunscreen has curdled in the closet.
Looking out my window in the office today it’s 34 degrees and raining. An ice pellet mixes in now and then. The wind is blowing, too. Did I mention that my husband is at a high school track meet? Spring seems like a great time to spend the day outside running and jumping. Today I’d like to crawl back in bed and wait for the sun. I saw it yesterday. Surely it will come back eventually.
And don’t even think about telling me that I should be used to Nebraska weather. If I poked myself in the eye with a rusty tack every day for almost 40 years I wouldn’t be used to it. It would still hurt and I would still wish it hadn’t happened. The difference is that I can choose not to poke myself in the eye. I can’t control the weather, and I think that’s probably more frustrating than anything. Because I sure do like to control stuff.
We’ve already made the decision not to have the Annual Prairie Festival this May. The past two years’ events have been rain outs. Talk about poking yourself with a rusty tack. Planning and preparing and publicizing an event only to have it ruined by a weather system is enough to send a control freak to the funny farm. So we’re determined to get the Charles L. Whitney Education Center built before we host the event again. The Center will allow us to move the party inside, if necessary. In fact, enjoying a spring rain on the screened porch sounds pretty awesome. But the temp has to be over 65 degrees. There I go again with the control thing.
My foul mood would be much improved if we could just get the Center built. That means raising another $500,000 – not a small task. No, it wouldn’t stop the rain, wind and snow. But it would allow me (and others, of course) to enjoy the beauty of the prairie while warm and dry and sipping hot chocolate. We could talk about interesting ideas or music or books or food or not talk at all. The experience and the view would wipe away any depression, negativity or gloom. The prairie is powerful like that. It makes thoughts of the funny farm quickly fade. In fact, just writing about the possibility has made me feel better.
If you can envision hot chocolate, great conversation and a beautiful view of the prairie, please consider a donation to the Education Center. The sooner we get it built the sooner we can assemble groups of people, large and small, to discuss education and the land and ways to help people enjoy and appreciate where they live.
Even when it’s April and snowing.
Posts: 1
Reply #1 on : Tue April 14, 2009, 12:29:37