You Know It's February In Washington When ...

Last winter we got hit hard with snow. And when I say we got hit hard with snow I'm not talking about a mid-west "normal" or even what the east coast is getting hit with now. I just mean that we got hit hard ... for Washington.

Lots of snow (12-18 inches for us). Cold weather to help the snow stick around. Plenty of hills, and few snow plows.

Ailey's last week of preschool before Christmas break was canceled. Andy crawled up the hill and then slid down again to get to the train station and work. My daily schedule was highlighted by watching the sledding and skiing going on down the hill in front of our house.

Ailey was not equipped to play in the snow ... but play in the snow she must. Since it was already the end of December, stores were sold out of gear. (You know, because by then no one needs that kind of stuff!) So she waded through waist-high snow in a borrowed size 7 snowsuit, suede boots a size too big and sprayed with water-repelling solution, and thin fleece mittens.

This year I swore all three girls would be ready for the snow. But now it's mid-February and the snowsuits from Target (purchased in October), the second-hand snow boots, and the variety of snow gloves I was able to find on clearance or second-hand last year are all still sitting in the closets. No snow. Not one flake.

No snow, but this is Washington. So it's been a cloudy and often rainy winter. There was a clear cold spell in December, but it's been almost nothing but overcast since.

This week, however ... well, here I come to my point. Yesterday cleared up to be a somewhat sunny day. Still cold, but it warmed to about 50 by afternoon. Today was nothing short of a glorious winter day - the sun shining, 50 degrees, the hint of a smell of spring in the air.

Mid-afternoon when the sun's rays came out of their hiding place behind the trees to the south of our house, Marin looked at me with surprise and pointed outside, "Mama, look. It's sun out there!" Later, once we were all bundled and outside squinting up at the trees beyond the fence, Silje pointed with the same exuberance that Marin had and yelled "Sun, Mama, sun!" As if they only knew sun from the pages of a book and were seeing it with their eyes for the first time. I know how they feel. That's just how January and February are here. When the sun finally does come out everyone is singing about it.

So the next time you're traveling and have lost your way, if you see someone point to the sky and label that bright yellow orb with excitement - "Sun!" - you might be in Washington in February.