Changing of the seasons

In the past, when I lived in temperate climates and got a good annual dose of all four seasons, I used to be annoyed by those bastards who lived in Florida or Southern California and complained how cold they were when they visited my neck of the woods.

Now I am one of those bastards.

Sure, it's supposed to me cold in Northern Virginia during the Christmas holidays -- my last visit to the States -- but I came back to St. Thomas with the flu. It was almost inevitable.

I watched a great episode of The Simpsons this morning when the family visited an apple orchard during the autumn season.

Marge says, "Aside from fall, winter and spring are my favorites seasons."

Now this statement was funny because if you ask any person who lives north of the Mason Dixon Line which season is their favorite, I'd guess 90 percent would say summer.

I thought about this for a moment. Then I looked out the window as palm trees flapped in the light breeze and a sharp sun glare pierced through a cloudless sky.

Sometimes, I still can't believe I live here.

Put it this way: I love to hike while the leafs change color, throw snow balls at unsuspecting people and mark the first day UPS delivery men break out their poop brown shorts for spring.

But over this past year, I experienced none of those joyous moments. Those UPS monkeys don't exist here but that's beside the point. There's no seasons here. It's just hot and HOTTER. Which is not a bad thing when you think about it.

I guess I do miss the seasons changing. But living in paradise is a very small compromise.

I love that I can swim at a beach almost any hour of the day (I keep a extra bathing suit in the car) and be invited to go sailing or kayaking on the drop of a dime (I'm not embarrassed to admit I also keep motion sickness pills in the glove compartment).

Putting pants on is a struggle, sun glasses are a must and my sandals repertoire has increased three fold. These are things that would not have occurred if I still lived in the upper 48. Well, maybe in Vegas. That place is insane.

Wait, where was I going with this? Oh yeah...

I'd just like to say that the St. Thomas weather is super awesome. It's reliable and consistent. Sure, a hurricane may come by one day and completely wipe out the entire island, but if we dodge that bullet, the rest of the year is golden.