Stephanie Martin-Smith
Soul Purpose
Driving down the street the other day I felt as if I was touring a northern town. The streets were carved out of the fresh, tall snow banks and the snow crunched beneath my tires with the cold minus-12 temperatures, and I thought to myself…when will it end?

It seems like February may possibly be the longest, yet shortest month of the year – sometimes giving us glimpses of spring only to throw us back into winters fury.  

March also plays some weather tricks and often lingers into April, but eventually it must end and spring  finds its way into summer.  

I heard once that one year  summer never arrived. Now I don’t know if there is any real historical documentation to back that up, but I’m glad if it did happen that I wasn’t around for it.

At this time of year it seems like everyone is heading south to break up the monotony of winter; our December trip to Florida seems like a distant memory.

Once again, the Exeter Radar has become my navigating tool for the journeys I make and the weather network is a new form of entertainment.

This is the opposite of a heat wave, and yet we still find the general population becoming edgy with the extreme temperatures and length of our winter this year.  

Shovelling has become an hourly task and yet the kids are complaining that they haven’t had enough snow days. Someone said to me, “I am sick of the weather and sick of talking about the weather,” which does seem to be a topic in which most of us can relate.

I’ve heard different comments on how people think weather talk is silly, however, I’ve concluded that we discuss the weather at length, with people we know, with people we don’t know, with our pets, and with ourselves simply because it is something we all have in common.  

It is an “ice-breaker” (especially these days) and it allows for a conversation to begin, which can often lead to further communication.

I remember once I was really happy to be having conversation about the weather at the grocery store when we lived in the country. Someone said, “Big storm coming in,” so my cart went from a few items to a cart full – and it was a good thing because the road to the grocery store was closed for about three days.

So I guess if nothing else we can be glad that the weather gives us all a reason for conversational exchange –  and I just can’t wait until I am complaining about those dog days of summer!