Sunday night, the temperature dipped to 4 degrees below zero in the Denver metro area. Yesterday the high temperature was a whopping 10 degrees above zero. It’s too cold to snow, though there was a trace of snow on my windshield yesterday when Bill and I set out to meet with our CPA. We got home around 3, and hunkered down for the night. Bill’s dentist appointment was cancelled so my plans today are to stay warm and cozy and not venture outside.

It’s not surprising that it’s particularly cold and snowy this winter. The weather forecasters have been telling us that because it’s another la nina year, northern Colorado will have a long winter’s nap, cold- and snow-wise. Still, I’m glad I don’t have to trudge off to the office when it’s this cold.

We left for AZ a couple of days after Christmas, so the little shelf outside our door that everyone decorates still held my (and everyone else’s) Christmas decorations. I’m sure I was the talk of WC because I left my reindeer and snowy trees up until we returned in mid-January. As I suspected, Christmas was dead to all the residents who decorate their shelves (which, as much as I can tell, is nearly everyone). What surprised me was that the WC residents go from Christmas directly to spring without passing Go and without collecting 200 bucks. Despite the cold temperatures, spring is busting out all over Wind Crest. There are brightly colored wreaths on the doors and yellow and purple and red tulips cheerfully adorning the shelves. It’s springtime in the WC Rockies.

Not for me, however. Since we are going to be here until the day after Valentine’s Day, I went red hearts All The Way.

I brought out my little porcelain truck from the closet, removed the pumpkins from its bed, and inserted wooden hearts and fluffy red balls where there had been pumpkins. Even Bill commented, “Aha, I see the truck is going to be our theme.”

Hell yes it is. It will be hauling tulips in the springtime, American flags in July, tomatoes and acorn squashes in August and September, and back to pumpkins in October.

Of course, the problem is that we are flying back to AZ on February 15, which means I have to prepare my nook for spring before we go. However, while it may offend my sensibilities, it clearly won’t offend the other residents who have had their spring decorations up since there were still reindeer footprints on the roofs.

These, my friends, are the serious issues that face us each day. Life is good.