MidWinter

We never get enough snow to make decent snowmen. After two full days of snow, we have just enough to cover the shorter grasses. If you mowed your lawn after the last cold spell, you probably have a complete blanket of snow, otherwise, you have the tips of hte grass poking up. Even those with hte deepest trimmed yards would be hard-pressed to find enough snow in their entire yard to exchange more than four or five snowballs or build a tiny, grassy, snowman overbalanced by a baby carrot nose.

Tomorrow, the temperature will be approaching the mid forties and that’s the end of the snow for this year.

We’ll have a few short bouts of ice and possibly snow in January, February, and March, none lasting more than three or four days. And then summer will be here.

Oh, yeah, we might get a few days of cooler weather, teasing us. But by April, we’ll be having 80ºF+ days, and taking wagers on the first time to breach the 100º mark – which is often sometime in May. Our seasons here are Summer, a quickie Fall, Winter, and Summer again. Spring somehow manages to coexist with late Winter and early Summer, but is overshadowed by both.

Tonight is Midwinter (got that mid winter, not the start of winter, but the middle of it), and we’ll stay up all night with friends, holding the annual Sun Vigil. Since tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy early on, I won’t be able to watch for the first glimpse of the sun, I’ll be ensconced in my office at work long before the sun is visible.

Some vigils are fasts, but this vigil is a feast of fingerfoods. Anything that can be eaten out of hand is welcomed. Soups and things requiring special containers (other than beverages) are strictly forbidden.

Some of the more popular foods include penis shaped sandwiches, anything chocolate (it is the height of Chocolate Season, after all), breast-shaped cupcakes, gingerbabies, cookies (usually in sun and star shapes), tartlettes, dolmades, burritos, tacos, inside out sandwiches, bruschetta, pizza, and green beans.

The night’s vigil will be spent in noshing and watching movies we consider religious and conversing with one another. A few folks may fall asleep at their own risk (shaving cream may be involved, and washable markers – after all, most of us have to go to work Wednesday morning).

And the prize for first spotting the sun is a really cool blown glass mermaid ornament. I won’t be able to compete for it this year because of the overcast nature of the morning, but someone cool will earn it.