Woohoo for cold fronts

There are few things I look forward to, pertaining to the weather here in Florida. On a daily basis, you can pretty much guarantee a lot of sun, a lot of humidity, and (depending on the time of year) some degree of hotness. Some days it rains (it usually only lasts about 15 minutes, leaving you with even more humidity), most days it doesn't. The weather here is pretty predictable, minus hurricanes, of course.

You can pretty much count on the mercury to continue it's upward stroke from about Valentine's Day on to about the beginning of the school year, and still stay uncomfortably hot until at least Halloween.

Me, being a northerner at heart, always picture Easter as a beautiful spring day, with flowers blooming and mild temperatures, perfect for an outdoor egg hunt without having to worry too much about the chocolate inside the eggs melting, or the hard boiled eggs going bad.

Here, it's a different story. The flowers have already bloomed, and have started their downward wilt. The mild weather gone, replaced with the hot, sunny conditions Florida is known for. And, you can absolutely forget about putting any kind of chocolate inside a plastic egg, first the sun will melt it, then the fire ants will eat it, leaving a less than desirable token for children to find.

Easter Sunday picnics here are approached with outdoor misting fans, 150 SPF sunblock, a can of Off bug spray, and lots and lots of umbrellas. Oh, and I forgot to mention, as little clothing as possible, usually shorts and a tank top, those frilly, beautiful Easter dresses are far too uncomfortable here. The people that do wear them, I'm assured, shed them the moment they return home from church. In the end, except for the egg hunt and baskets, Easter here, doesn't look much different than the rest of the country's fourth of July celebration.

This year, weather.com has told me will be different. As of tonight, we have a cold front moving in. Today it is supposed to be around 88 degrees, then by Easter, the temperatures will dip down to a wonderful 62 degrees! I'm super excited. Too bad I've already purchased the boys' outfits for this year (t-shirts and shorts). If I would have known this little tidbit, I would have been tempted to buy the cute little "Easter outfits" I keep seeing. Okay, lets be honest, I would have run out and purchased matching polo shirts complete with cute little sweater vests and plaid shorts, before the weather man could have even finished talking. Heck, I'd still run out today and return the outfits, if I wasn't so sure that all the "good" Easter outfits were snatched up weeks ago, by parents obviously unfamiliar with the usual hot conditions, or with people with far more money than I, hopefully enough to air condition the back yard prior to the egg hunt.

For the first time this season, I'm excited about our upcoming Easter events. As I've stated before, if it were up to me we wouldn't have even celebrated that holiday this year. The feelings of betrayal, sadness, and anger still run deep.

It's nice to see the light at the end of the very long and twisted tunnel though.