Nuclear Winter Wonderland?

Ahhhhh, I love this warm February weather that happens every year. It is always a surprise to find that one day, at least for a few weeks, instead of layering up against the winter chill, I can simply wear a sweatshirt and break free from the knit-tights underneath my jeans. Hoorah!! The best part of all is the gorgeous blossoms popping out everywhere, bedazzling the landscape -- and fragrant! There is a thick bed of white narcissus that bloom outside my front door every February that smells so delicious my teeth ache as though I've eaten too much candy. I want them to last forever.

And the hiking! Today I took my eldest son Brent and three of his friends, Jonny, Damon, and Ian on a rather challenging hike up the Robie Wendell training hill. As we were working our way up the mile-long steep hill, the sun made its presence known, albeit it was still only a 70 degree sun. Unhappy with what they called "heat," two of the boys, Ian and Damon, shouted to me in video-game-speak, "we are going to destroy you!" and jested shaking fists.

Ian went on further with his curses and said, "damn global warming! What we need is a nuclear winter." Nice, I said to him, is that your solution to global warming, a nuclear winter? You should run for President. He stated his satirical slogan, "fight terrorism and global warming at the same time -- nuclear war."