Vermont Weather, Installment 1

It's miserably dreary here today. 52 degrees and raining. And that's not a complaint. I actually rather like rainy fall days. But here's the thing about the weather here - if it's dreary and cloudy, it's also precipitating. I suppose I should say, it's also raining. We haven't had snow... yet.

We've been here about 6 weeks now - and I can only remember one day when it was neither sunny nor rainy, just overcast. There was actually one day when it was both sunny and rainy. But I'll tell you about that in a second. I hold a seed of hope that this pattern will carry into the winter. Perhaps the reason it's on average 4 degrees colder here than in Ann Arbor is because we don't get the clouds to hold in some "warmth." We can continue to hope... and in a later installment, I'll keep you updated.

But for that one weird day when it was sunny and rainy... anyone who has lived in the Midwest has seen a slate gray sky with sun streaming in from the horizon that lights the top of the trees and gives the whole world an eerie green color. And you know it because you pay attention to conditions like that - because they often accompany dangerous storms or tornados. But not here. Here it was just this cool, eerie sight, and nothing more. They (we?) don't have tornados here. In fact, as far as I can tell, we don't have any "angry" weather. (Again, I'll keep you posted in a later installment - I'm sure I'll change my mind when the snow comes...). I have not heard a single clap of thunder since we arrived. :-( I like thunder. The meterologists keep saying "thunderstorms possible." Yeah, right...

But on to another issue that is slightly more "pressing"... today marks 34 weeks in the pregnancy. Anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks to go... and anyone who has become a parent knows the incredible and motley sea of emotions that accompanies these last weeks. We went to Denny's late last Friday night - because we could just grab the keys and go. Patrick didn't need the hamburger, I didn't need (well... maybe I did...) the delicious Hershey's chocolate cake. We did feel the need to assert our independence by being as spontaneous as we get. Yet we are so eager to hold our little girl. I'm a bit eager to hand her off to Daddy and do anything by myself. But I'll miss the cute little hiccups I feel a few times a day, and the squirms that used to be somersaults, and the knowledge that I have our baby kept safe inside, shielded from harm for the most part. But I guess it's time to just hold on tight because we're in for the ride of our lifetime! I used to like rollercoasters - maybe I can get used to the ups and downs and loops and stomach flips again...

(I just realized that Patrick's cousin used a rollercoaster analogy in her blog in the days before they met their son... so either it was subliminally lodged in my memory, or it's a common feeling of a total, yet intentional, loss of control)