April showers bring May showers and other reasons I hate Spring

April the 5th. Another gloomy Spring day. Yes, I realize I just used gloomy and Spring in the same sentence. For most Spring brings to mind bucolic scenes of budding flowers and baby lambs frolicing under a smiling sun. Children splash in puddles wearing brightly patterned rain coats during the occasional rain shower. Throw off the cold and oppressive mantle of Winter and work in the garden. That may be true unless you happen to live in Oregon. We like to joke that Winter lasts until after the 4th of July when the sun finally decides to come out. No one would ever plan an outdoor wedding for Oregon in June. We foolishly camped in June last year and had sleet fall on our summer weather tent.

Let me tell you a sad fact. In Oregon it rained 30 out of 31 days in March. The mercury has yet to rise above 60 degrees save for one day last week. The forecast for tomorrow? 46 and rainy. As I write this blog with a cheery fire in the woodstove it is 42 and rainy. Even better, tomorrow night the forecast is for 34 with a chance of snow showers. I should be used to this. Other than the 2 Springs I experienced in Oklahoma they have all been cold and rainy. However the 2 Springs in Oklahoma gave me a taste of what I"m missing along with every other resident of the State with a Slug Queen (and no, I am not the Slug Queen although I've considered candidacy): bursting pink and white magnolia blossoms dripping from their branches to carpet dry lawns and Red Buds in bloom, people pulling out their t-shirts and capris and bursting into song because it's 73 degrees, birds coming out of hiding to warble merry tunes, freshly planted flowers and mulch, sipping sweet tea with extra lemon in the sun while getting an early start on the summer tan. Some places parents and athletes stay dry at track meets and baseball games. Some places children play outside after school. But not here.

So what does this have to do with writing other than being my current blog topic? I just don't feel very inspired to write when it's cold and dreary outside. After a full day at work my warm bed and a cup of tea sound divine. But if I stopped writing because of the weather I would never finish the book and I woul disappoint not only myself but those of you kind enough to follow along. I rewrote my prologue over the weekend and was able to borrow some of the gloom outside to set the mood. I am very satisfied with it now. I am trying hard to find some cheer despite the weather: yellow daffodils instead of yellow sun, a few early hyacinths in a mason jar on the dining room table, Rio Beach in my Scentsy warmers, brightly colored Nerds jelly beans, and my bright pink rain coat that positively screams Spring.

By creating an artificial Spring around me I hope to keep the chill away and keep SPF moving towards completion.  I hope to have the Prologue and first two chapters posted on my blog by the end of April, or as I have renamed it the 5th month of Winter. I wish I had a definite date for publication of the book itself but since I don't write full time I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. I am writing though, so please keep following. Your support is the best cheer in this gloomy weather, even better than the pink raincoat!

:-) Melanie