Man, it seems that this winter has been going on a little longer than usual. Every time we think we are done with the snow and cold and have a nice 80 degree day, the forecast shows that another cold front will be working its way down bringing wind and snow. Tomorrow, the first of May, is supposed to have a high of only 39 with 4 to 7 inches of snow.
Maybe we get this extended winter to remind us of how great an endless summer will be when we move to Puerto Rico…a…long…drawn…out…goodbye…to Colorado winters.
So this weekend even though we were pretty sure it wasn’t quite the end of winter, yet, we just couldn’t help ourselves from kicking off the fun of summer, kicking off the type of lifestyle we will live in Puerto Rico nearly every day.
We started up the grill and ate tropical-style food outside a few times.
Woosh. Starting up the coal grill for the first time this year
Yum! Grilled chicken, grilled pineapple, black beans, salad and grapes.
We bought plants for the flowerpots out front (that will have to be taken inside tonight since it sounds like we will have a pretty hard frost).
Sad old pot that had been sitting on our front porch all winter
Trunk full of flowers for the pots
Working on the pots. I love the insta-beauty and have always enjoyed this type of easy “gardening”
We took long, sunny walks. We remembered HOW MUCH we love nice weather.
A lot of people ask us if we will appreciate nice weather less if we don’t have the contrast of winter. And honestly, I don’t know. There is a certain quality and feeling from a cozy winter house watching movies, reading, sitting by the fire drinking hot tea and looking at the sparkling snowy wonderland outside.
But I also know that I feel so much more alive in the summer. How I want to be outside. How I want to be with other people. How I want to grow plants and raise baby chicks and start new projects. I feel like all winter I have been hibernating and spring is time to wake up. Will that be different in the tropics? Probably. Because there is no winter to shake off and bolt off into summer, it will probably be a slower fizz, a constant brewing undercurrent, instead of a jolt into life. A lazy, languid, and warm “island time” sort of feeling instead of the rush to get everything done, everything planted, “hurry, hurry, hurry, take advantage of this nice weather because winter will be here before you know it” feeling.
While I can’t know the future too far down the line, I know I have lived over 30 years with some pretty harsh winters, so at least a few years without them will be fine by me. Yes, I am sure of it.
UPDATE: The snow came down hard and cold and more than likely killing all the fruit tree blossoms. Let’s cross our fingers that they rebloom soon.
After spending 10 years of my life in the mountains of Utah I can tell you with absolute certainty that , “we will appreciate nice weather less if we don’t have the contrast of winter” is not my truth. I LOVE the good weather in SB, love love love it and am having a harder and harder time even visiting the mountains, me a fanatic skier. Two months of snow and skiing just about do it, then hey let’s head for the beach for the next 6 months. As for gardening you will be amazed and astounded at how much fun you will have with year round gardening. I have discovered the joys of succulents recently, and have a vegetable garden all year round. BTW I am emailing you some information regarding another blogger who you might enjoy talking with, Amber of WhereisAmber.com. She travels the world and has volunteered to work on organic farms in Australia and New Zealand and is familiar with how to join the movement for these small scale farms .
You ARE having a rather cold send off from Colorado this year though. I don’t remember spring weather like that , although I have never experienced cold like the dry cold of the high plains. It literally takes your breath away.
Welcome to the west coast, hope you have an emergency power generator!
I fully agree with you on your thoughts about Summer, but being from the Northeast I do enjoy the snow too…just not the cold that comes with it along with the shoveling. You always look forward to the weather finally turning warm, but I don’t think I’d mind if it was always warm either…
Food off the grill looks delicious! I see that lighter fluid is being used – something that I learned recently is the charcoal chimney. It lets you light all the charcoal without using lighter fluid and instead just using a little bit of newspaper. You don’t have to wait for it to burn off so that you don’t get the taste in your food and it eventually pays for itself by not having to pay for lighter fluid. You can get a good quality Weber version for only $15 off Amazon too. There’s plenty of videos on youtube on how to use it correctly and some tips and tricks.
Thanks for stopping by, Nick! Yes, we’ve lived our whole lives in Colorado, so life on a tropical island will be a fun change. Thanks for the info about the charcoal chimney. I think we are going to build an outdoor oven in Puerto Rico. Lots of plans.
Just curious, “anonymous”, what would we need a generator for — ice on the power lines? post- hurricane destruction? floods? Possible fire burnt poles? Maybe a tsunami?
Not too worried since the average temp is 70’s here you don’t have to worry about freezing, anyway.
I think maybe they were talking about us in Rincon?