A Kiss

Many locales around the world are no strangers to maniacal weather changes and my location in the upper plains is no exception to such fluctuations. A couple of weeks ago, our neighborhood was abuzz with the sound of roaring snowblowers and scraping shovels as we dug ourselves out of our first official significant snowfall of the season. The snowfall was followed by a week of frigid temperatures setting record lows for high temperatures of the day. The sun took a break and hid behind the clouds, creating gloomy days. Our low temperatures sealed the deal on anything vegetal left in my garden. I had rose-colored glasses and hoped a few treasures would defy biology and hang on a bit longer. Silly me. 

Fortunately, the weather made another big shift this past week and kissed us with near record setting high temperatures for this time of year. The sun made an appearance in all its glory and the winds dialed back from turbulent to mild. Windows were flung open for a few days. Furnaces rested a bit before the siege of winter arrives in full force. Folks took their daily walks unencumbered by extra layers of clothing. Neighbors were outdoors tackling a few more tasks.  

As for me, outdoor tasks are always best taken in small doses but I felt a strange sense of urgency to finish a couple of things before the doors of winter slammed shut. I wanted to give a few of my windows a little cleaning, emphasis on the word little. Long ago I gave up on sparkly, squeaky clean windows. I've tried vinegar concoctions, newspapers, squeegees, expensive products, cheap products, specialty cloths and the results seem to be about the same. Lowering my standards has worked best for me and the price is right.  

My grill was also in need of a good scrubbing before it was put to bed. We have a small grill but the task always overwhelms me as I tackle the greasy goo that seems to build up despite my efforts to scrape it down between grilling events. I have no magic bullet for that cleaning task despite watching many youtube videos on "making the task easier." I have the best luck with the method that works for oil-slicked ducks, use good old-fashioned Dawn dish soap. A fair bit of elbow grease is also needed and once again, lowering my standards has been helpful. My conundrum was the desire to use my grill in the nice weather but not wanting to dirty it up again. The siren song of grilled food won out and I will have to put up with a little extra grease in the spring,

The final task was washing my vehicle. Yes, it is much easier to run it through a car wash but I told myself that when I retired, I would take on this task, at least occasionally. Truth to be told, I am afraid of car washes that require me to drive onto specified tracks. I have trouble with backing out of my driveway without incident so I tend to avoid other challenges if possible, especially in public. My husband had packed up most of the hoses and spray thingies so it took a little extra work to set up the process. But, the deed is done and considering how little I am driving these days, I should be good to go for a fair amount of time.

Not surprisingly, the weather is predicted to swing back to cold and the possibility of snow. It was good to have a little smooch of sweet weather before we dust off the parkas and mittens again.