Our Winter = Your Summer

You can’t help but be smug.  You can’t help but call your friends in frozen places.  When you live in Southern California and it’s 75 degrees in January, you have to tell people.  This weekend while my wife and I were planting lavender and acting like suburban homesteaders, Toddler Harbat was playing out the in yard.  Imagine being in short sleeves and setting up a picnic in the grass in January.  Listen, I come from the East Coast and have suffered through winters of cutting winds and black ice with weather that warms up to one notch above freezing so it can rain instead of snowing.  I’ve served my time.  My reward is this:  a picnic with my daughter, Rapunzel Barbie head, and a snack of fake blueberries yanked off the Indian hawthorne in front of our house.

There’s something about sitting in the grass under a warm sun, your body aching from a full day of manual labor, that makes you want nothing more than to salon somebody’s hair.  This is the gospel according to TH, who was only too happy to supply me with braids to clip into Rapunzel’s thinning and unnaturally lustrous hair.

What’s that, Rapunzel?  You want another braid?  Coming right up!

 

Writer, architect, father, husband.

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6 comments on “Our Winter = Your Summer
  1. akamonsoon says:

    Too cute! I also hear you about growing up on the east coast. I’m from Boston originally and living in Phoenix for 9+ years I’ll never go back. No way! We are experiencing the same weather as you and I would not trade it for anything.

  2. Annie says:

    That’s exactly the weather we have here in BC… yuck. We were x-country skiing 2 days ago (lovely) but now this. I think we’ll come to SD for a visit….

    • psoutowood says:

      And we’d be happy to have you. The girls could salon Rapunzel’s hair while we sipped mojitos in the hot tub. Now I just have to figure out how to make a mojito. Cachaça, lime, sugar, and ice, right?

      • Annie says:

        You’ve got it – just add a little fresh mint and muddle with the sugar…
        We actually ARE contemplating a celebratory trip this spring when Glen finishes his teaching degree. We’ll keep you updated when we are ready to commit. I’m sure the girls would have fun – Amelia loves anything to do with a salon. They could probably even salon Finn… 🙂

  3. Babs says:

    I’m just wondering how Ms. Rapunzel became a quadraplegic? She seems to be OK with it, however, and coping/managing just fine. It must be from all the love and attention to her lovely hair!

  4. Po says:

    Cachaça, lime, sugar, and ice is a Caipirinha. I think the Mojito is made with Rum. Either way it would be a good way to use all of that mint sitting in the pot out back 🙂