Baby, it's coooold outside!

Okay, I moved to Cottonwood AZ because it's warm. And granted, this past summer was really, really warm, kinda like hellish- days, weeks maybe, over 110 degrees. But today, it actually felt like winter here- I don't think it was above 45 degrees, with a bitter wind. I actually had to wear a coat and gloves... It reminded me of Colorado this time of year! Flagstaff has snow, lots of it, the ski resort opened this week, and it was 2 degrees yesterday morning at 8. Hard to believe it's only 50 miles away. Most of the time we get into the 60-70's during most of the winter, so this week is an arctic blast... at least for desert rats like me.

When we moved here in 1999, I had finally grown tired of winter in the Rockies. We moved to Colorado from Arizona in 1982, the same year that John Elway was drafted by the Broncos. I know that because that was the only thing on the news for 3 months after we moved there. Coloradans are crazy about their Broncos... Anyhow, we moved from Phoenix to Parachute, yes that's really a town. It was over a hundred degrees by June in Phoenix, and then all summer the Coloradans I knew were whining when the weather got 'hot', all of 85 degrees!

I laughed this week when Flagstaff cancelled school after 6 inches of snow overnight. In the 17 years we lived in Colorado, they NEVER CANCELLED SCHOOL! There were a few snow days, but no cancellations. I remember driving school bus, after a huge snowstorm, with snow still falling, pushing 4-6 inches of snow on a dirt road, but we had to keep going. They did start school later that day, but scoffed at the idea of cancelling it. I loved the snow and cold weather for years, I grew up in the mountains, it wasn't new to me, but the mountains there are so much greater than anything in Arizona. I miss the mountains, and I miss watching it snow, and the kids having snowball fights, coming in soaking wet and freezing, the winds howling down the canyon, wait, I guess I don't miss it all, but I love watching it snow! It makes it feel more like Christmas somehow.