Temperatures... and Navel-Gazing

The past few evenings, I've been arriving home a bit chilled. No problem--out comes the alpaca sweater, up go the flames in the wood stove. But what gives me the weirds is that it's been a good 70-80 F degrees warmer than two weeks prior!

I think it's something about the humidity. Warm air can hold more, so it can give you more of a chill. Also... I guess acclimation is a big part of it. That's why those first few days in the 30s F feel cold each Fall, but in deep winter, negative teens F feels warm.

So when my mother asks over the phone, "What is your weather like? Is it still cold, or warmer?" I really have no clue what to say, because it's more than a number. :)

The Minor News, true to form, reports, "After one of the coldest Januarys on record... Normally the second-coldest month of the year in Alaska’s second-largest city, February has gotten off to an extremely mild start.." Second coldest month, second largest city (as if we don't know where we are!). I swear, they just love their numbers and near-records!

Eleven of the first 13 days of the month have had an average temperature above normal and seven of the first 13 days have had a high temperature of 25 degrees or warmer.

The average temperature so far this month at Fairbanks International Airport is 5.4 degrees, which is is 9.5 degrees above normal and more than 30 degrees warmer than January’s average temperature of 26.9 below. Had it not been for the first four days of the month, which had an average temperature of minus 11.3, it would be one of the warmest starts to February on record.

I read blahblahblah numbers! numbers! blahblahblah numbers!...

Finally, happy National Half-Priced Chocolate Day! Yay! Yesterday evening, my incredibly sweet neighbors across the street came over bearing chocolates. I wonder if they had pictured me sitting alone and sad on Valentine's Day, since I had recently broken up with their son/brother? It was really touching, and made me feel more appreciation for their affection than I ever did for that of their son/brother.

And on the topic of being alone on Valentine's day... I noticed that yesterday’s blogs and even news sites were pretty evenly divided between “Ain’t love grand?” and “We’re happily single and loving it!”

I realized that I fall into neither of these categories. I’ve been happy in relationships, and I’ve been (and currently am) happy single. But I’ve never been happy to be in a relationship, and I’ve never been happy to be single.

Happiness seems to be more a result of temperament than of circumstance. We all know people who should be happy but aren’t, and people who shouldn’t be happy but are. I'm blessed to be more often the latter. To those of you who were sad and single yesterday, do not correlate the two. Do something to make yourself happier, with or without a partner. Yay for creating your own destiny!