Go ahead, call me a wimp.

I’ll go you one better. I’ll plead guilty. I am a wimp. A weather wimp, that is.
That fact is I hate winter.

Which makes this an especially brutal Monday morning.

If you have not been outside yet, brace yourself. It’s flat-out nasty out there this morning.

Yes, I know that we’ve had a mild winter. I know that we have had almost no snow, a little more than 2 inches in fact. That’s what we used to call a dusting.

I don’t care. All I know is that my distaste for winter grows every year.

This year is no different. I don’t like the fact that it gets dark early. I drive to work in the dark. And drive home in the dark.

People have told me I have what they refer to as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Whatever it is, I think I suffer from it.

I long for the days when I could toss on a pair of shorts and run outside. I wouldn’t suggest doing that this morning.

I stand in my kitchen and look forlornly out at my screened-in porch, which looks so desolate and unappealing when the temperature is in the single digits.

It was 10 degrees when I left the house this morning. The wind was howling. The air literally could take your breath away.

But all is not lost. I noticed a wonderful thing this weekend. I was sitting down to watch the 6 o’clock news yesterday when it hit me. It was still light outside. Not a lot, but it was unmistakable.

The Phillies pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Thursday.
It’s a promise of spring. And not a moment too soon.