April in Minnesota

I read the weather forecast yesterday. It said that it was going to be a balmy 65 degrees today! What does that feel like? What did it mean? How was I supposed to dress?

It's been a long Winter. I no longer understood absurd, zaftig, two-digit numbers like 65. I put on my layers of shirts. One of them had long sleeves. I was aware that my walk to work was still in the morning and that the temperatures might not have climbed quite so high by then. But I left without a jacket or hat. Long underwear was not even considered. I faced the outdoors.

There was a chill at first. I kept my cool hands tucked slightly into my long sleeves. But I was not cold. The sun broke through the broken clouds. A turkey vulture flew overhead, losing the thermals and uncharacteristically beating its wings. Plants began to quietly bud in the mud. I felt a little warm.

It was heating up. My shirts started to feel burdensome. I was sweating uncomfortably. The brutal April sun beat down on my back as I walked. As I approached my destination, the University of Minnesota, I was hot, sweltering. I peeled down to my one thin t-shirt and tied the rest around my waist. I regretted the minor thickness of my socks. In the long Winter I had forgotten how much I disliked the over-heated Summer. I was melting. And in my sun battered agony I looked up at the giant TCF Stadium time and weather sign.

It was 44 degrees.

44 degrees!

They say that by the later part of the week a storm will be here that could drop a foot of snow on us! Eh, maybe. Let it try. What's it to me? For me Winter is over now, no matter what happens.