Friday's

There are very few things I enjoy more than the approaching 5PM mark of a Friday afternoon. However, on this particular Friday, it's a it more painful. This is my first winter in Pennsylvania and the frigid air has been a bit of a wake-up call for my native Californian skin. Until this year, I wasn't aware the 19 degrees was an actual temperature. I mean, I knew it intellectually, I just never never pictured myself having to cope with the reality. Sure, I had visited the frozen tundra in the past but with the understanding that I would return to my sunny, blissfully unaware reality a few short days later. This unspoken understanding made it bearable to walk to the car for a few brief moments or maneuver in and out of stores. Now, that this is my reality I am learning things, that I never knew were actual THINGS. For instance, always having a jacket and gloves on hand. The need for clothing items that cover your ears, and of courses waterproof boots. Yes, stores carry these items in California and people don them from time to time, heading up to Tahoe for a weekend getaway or heading to the ski slopes, but I never imagined they would be hanging on a rack near my door for daily use.
The upside to this absolutely unnecessary weather, is that it affords me the opportunity to write more. Seeing as how I will be doing everything in my power to avoid going outside for the next four months or so, I should be able to produce my next work, "Lucy's Chance". Hopefully I will still be able to type through the cracked knuckles and breaking skin. Am I being a bit dramatic? Yes, obviously...but seriously....wtf?