Bloglander

Working in customer service, many of my interactions this week have centered on the heat. Yes, we’re sweating. No, I can’t work functionally in my converted attic apartment. Maybe you’re ready for it to be over. Maybe I am too, but I annoy myself when I complain a lot, so I am taking up a new strategy. Keeping in mind that we live in an extreme climate, singing “Turn, Turn, Turn” in your head might be a good first step. If you’re like me, it’s not enough. It’s time to turn to magical thinking and self-hypnosis.

If you’ve lived in Spokane for more than six months, you know about our winters, their unending fury, and their frosty air. The mist in the background of this shot from Mt. Spokane two winters ago is the air I’ve been fantasizing about today. Can you conjure up what it feels like to inhale that sharp air?


Next, I’ll work on trying to be grateful for all of the things about winter that are lacking right now. If you were me, in January of this year taking this picture, your wool socks would be giving way to the snow that snuck in through the top of your boots. The desire to find more winter beauty to photograph would be waning in competition with the numb feeling spreading from toes to ankles and the realization that it’s a mile and a half walk back to warmth and blankets. You might stink this week, but you’re probably not numb from cold. Great news!


In short, I’ll be going to my unhappy place a lot this week. Remembering my hatred of being cold and my impatience with winter’s stranglehold on the Inland Northwest can spark an appreciation for near-nudity, vinyl related discomfort, and hot pavement. Here are a few more visual aids for your own experiments in self-hypnosis. We’re going to get through this, Spokanites!