Fear of Spring
Today I woke up late (ah, luxury!), so when I got up to walk Vince the sun was fairly high in a sky completely free of clouds. It was so clear I could see past the entrance to Tomales Bay all the way to the tip of Pt. Reyes, and the ocean was a balmy blue that looked more like Monterey Bay than Bodega Bay. I spent a glorious two hours in my garden, pulling weeds easily from the dark, warming soil. As a little full moon spell, I took all the plants people have given me as housewarming gifts and planted them where they would grow best. All the while, in the back of my mind I was thinking about friends in Minnesota, Vermont, New York, and what they would say about me soaking up the sun on a balmy January day in California.
After the big storms of late December, we’ve had a few scattered showers and quick storms that blow in and out in half a day, but none of the sustained wildness and wetness that caused major flooding so recently. In the past couple days the weather has gotten steadily brighter, culminating in the glorious day we had today. It is a guilty pleasure here, the way we can recharge our internal solar batteries while the rest of the world is blanketed in snow or covered with clouds.
Of course, there is a flip side to that pleasure. One morning recently, Jojo asked me in a tremulous voice if winter was over now. I recognized that worried tone in her voice. There has not been enough rain for winter to be over. More than that, we haven’t yet had enough socked-in, bundled-up weather to feel emotionally ready for the relentless sun of spring, summer, and fall.
No one knows what the Spring holds for California. This could really be it, and winter could now give way to skies that grow progressively more dry and brown as summer approaches. Or we could have a respite from storms for a couple months, then March might blow in with fierce wind and rain that rips all the blossoms off the fruit trees and leaves the roads a mess again. Even weirder, we might have a very mild early Spring, and then May and June could bring tropical weather: humid cloud cover and warm showers at unseasonable times.
However it plays itself out, the weather is unsettled, and unsettling. As we finally pull our heads out of the sand about global warming, I think worrying about the weather will become a national pasttime. Here on the Northern California coast, we are better positioned than most of the country to ride out freak heat or cold spells, but nothing is certain (not that it ever was). Meanwhile, what to do? Weather magic seems like a fool’s errand (but then it always has), and cursing what we have seems to be missing the point entirely.
I am trying to just take it at face value. Today I had a wonderful day in the sun, working in my garden. I also unearthed lots more soggy kindling and put it on the front porch to dry, because something tells me the rain is not far away and I’ll need all the kindling I can get for my cranky woodstove. Of course I would never wish any catastrophic flooding or mudslides on anyone, but I do hope the rain I smell in the air for later this week will be substantial, will keep me indoors stoking the fire as the winter gradually wanes into the uneasy truce of Spring.