I woke up and realized it was actually spring. Well, sort of. According to the calendar, according to the blooms, according to the upcoming switch to Daylight Savings Time, that is. According to me, it feels like I’m still stuck in the darkness of winter. It has my brain and body scrambled and in a state of constant confusion.
At my day job, I’m teaching kids what they need to know now and telling them how to prepare for the future. I’m scrambling to complete all my school year expectations while planning for the next crop of students to arrive in late August.
My weekday central California mornings are just above freezing, but steadily warm during the day. My Sierra weekend mornings are far below freezing, but eventually warm and turn the snow to slush.
In the morning I want to turn on the heat, but know in the afternoon I will want to throw open the windows. I wear a wool coat to work, but strip down to a single layer by noon.
I’m washing woolen ski socks, fleece long underwear and baseball uniforms in the same load. I have a baseball bag on one seat of the car, and a ski bag on the other.
Hot, steaming coffee brings me into the day, and cool diet Pepsi keeps me going into the dark.
The weather report calls for sunny days this weekend and rainy days next week. The trees are blooming, partway.
At home, my son is growing out of sixth grade and growing excited about moving to the junior high school. My daughter is planning for junior year classes to prepare her for college admissions.
I feel like I’m half way there, too. Balancing between two jobs, two lives, two of everything and never quite whole of either. Sometimes blooming, sometimes dormant.
And I’m all mixed up. Some days it feels like the best I can do is just make it to bedtime in one piece. On others, I have the energy to take on the world and then some.
Do you feel it, too? Is it a schizophrenic spring in your world, or am I the only crazy one?
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Jennifer Wolfe
Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.
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Comments: 25
Finding My Muse: Searching In Tahoe Snow and Pine Trees
April 1, 2013[…] the road towards home, I continue to see signs of life amongst the schizophrenic ground. Strength shows in the patches of sunlight. It’s there somewhere. I see it. I hear […]
Jennifer Wolfe
March 17, 2012I can completely relate! Sun, rain, fire in the fireplace,daffodils blooming…crazy.
Momfever
March 16, 2012Yet it is schizophrenic. When I went out for my run this morning, the sun was shining, and I was trying to decide which summer dress to wear. But then suddenly the fog rolled in, and now I’m sitting here actually wearing my Uggs!
Bella
March 13, 2012Mamawolfe, today I did good on my promise to go out and capture shots of the emerging signs of spring. I got some pretty nice macros and I cannot tell you the excitement at seeing new buds and leaves on the trees! I’m totally looking forward to saying goodbye to winter and welcoming the warmer temperatures! 🙂
Jennifer Wolfe
March 14, 2012Oh, that’s great to hear! We welcomed winter again with a vengeance this week!
The Pepperrific Life
March 13, 2012Spring has almost sprung, I see…
So many changes happening in your life… The weather seems to be the perfect backdrop.
Jennifer Wolfe
March 13, 2012Yes, Pepper, sadly it is a perfect backdrop for all the change in my life.
Susan Kane
March 11, 2012No, spring is bi-polar. Definitely.
Jennifer Wolfe
March 13, 2012I’m glad to see so many people agree with me!
prototype mama
March 11, 2012I can totally understand—in the morning it’s cold and then by noon it’s in the 70s here in Louisiana. Beautiful picture!
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Thank you! I loved how only part of the tree was blooming-kinda weird, just like me right now!
Jenn
March 11, 2012Oh yes. Spring makes me crazy no matter where I am. In Massachusetts the smell of spring could make me cry, and here in Florida the still-cool breezes make me sad that the seasons are changing already… Not my finest moments, LOL!
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012I know just how you feel. Enough other things to deal with-just let me know what to wear each day!
leigh
March 11, 2012You are the only crazy one! Just kidding!
The way you describe your days reminds me of winters in SOuth Africa, cold in the morning and by afternoon I’m in short sleeves. That photo of the tree is amazing – seems early to me!
Hope you get some well needed time to relax this weekend, yousound too busy!
leigh @ oneandoneequalstwinfun
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Hi Leigh,
I thought it was an early bloom, too, but then I realized it was only 1/2 of the tree, and none of the other trees around it were budding at all!
David C. Burton
March 11, 2012I feel the same so often here in Oklahoma too. I think Will Rogers was right: “If you don’t like the weather in Oklahoma wait 5 minutes, it will change.”
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Yes, and I feel sorry for the weather forecasters! They just can’t seem to get it right!
Michael Ann
March 11, 2012You captured this feeling beautifully! One hour I’m in sweats and the next I’m in shorts. Layers in clothing are the rule of the day. I don’t have the ski thing to add into the funky mix though 🙂
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Michael Ann, I skied in a t shirt last weekend! Complete craziness.
Dee
March 10, 2012Dear Jennifer,
I’m feeling as if my mind and my life are pinball machines. I pull back the lever and a ball–a thought, a dream, a heart wish–go zooming forward. It bops one thing, then another, then one that has no relation to the first two. Zooming. My head is zooming!
Peace.
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Great analogy, Dee. I feel the exact same way!
Ang
March 10, 2012Totally get where you’re coming from–must be happening all over the country! Beautiful picture, BTW! Have a great weekend!
Ang
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Thanks, Ang. I loved how only 1/2 of the tree was in bloom-just like me!
Carla Karam
March 10, 2012Weather is absolutely crazy everywhere! We were in the 80s one day and two days later on the verge of snow! Blessings!
Jennifer Wolfe
March 11, 2012Weather always seems to control so much of our lives, doesn’t it?