It’s the sixth of November. It should be a time when things cool off a little bit. Summer is over, the leaves have fallen off the trees, it gets dark out super early, baseball season is over, and the playoffs for the NFL haven’t quite started yet. It’s that pre-Holiday hibernation that all of us slumber into.
Instead, it hit 70 degree today. I’m sitting here at my kitchen table in a hooded sweatshirt and gym shorts. Both the kitchen window are open and the fan is on, mainly because the heat in the building has already been turned on. It’s not comfortable. My downstairs neighbors are smoking on their patio and the smell is wafting through my windows. They were having some sort of house party earlier where I could hear the bass through the floor. It’s November for pete’s sake. Slow down just a little bit until Christmas.
I walked around my neighborhood for about an hour this evening in the same outfit. It was a pleasant temperature, even if it was out of the ordinary. There is also the 11th hour discussion about polls, voter turnout, weather forecasts, and lots of other things. It’s all very high tension. It’s very off brand for November. I don’t love November, but I like that there is a winnowing of people who can’t stand the cold.
Like most everyone else, I’ve been upset the past few weeks regarding politics. I can’t stand the news anymore. I just want it to stop and get on with everything. I just want it to get cold, feel the zip in the air as I leave for work, bundle myself up in a hoodie or a sweater, and enjoy the freezing weather. You can enjoy it if you prepare enough. Though it feels like that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, even after the election.
This whole thing feels like it’s dragged on for quite a while and no one really enjoys it. I doubt the candidates do. I don’t think anyone’s been joyful about the whole thing. I’ve decided to give people a pass on celebrating Christmas early this year. Who cares? If it’s something that lightens the mood, I’m all for it. We need more things in our lives that people are genuinely happy about. It’s good to see people get excited about the things in life they are genuinely happy about. Joy is a thoroughly underrated emotion.
I am joyful about the cooler weather. I love the feeling of walking out in just the right amount of outerwear where you are not cold and you’re not sweating either. You can feel the air shock your throat as you walk. It’s a shock to the system after months of breathing through straws throughout the humid summer.
Our country has been running through this noxious cycle of venom and hatred. I don’t know why we’ve allowed this to happen. I think it truly is bumming us all out. Let’s cool it down, put on our sweaters, and get back to the bare bones things of life.
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