Weather Means Whether

What is as refreshing as a spring day? The attitude of a visitor excited by the city. And what surpasses that? The unbridled enthusiasm of youth. So what do you have when you mix the two? Girls resting on the ground, preparing for their next outburst.
These girls were from Montreal - I asked because it appeared obvious that they were from out of town (or new university students). How can you tell an out of towner? New Yorkers, even young ones, don't usually lie on asphalt. We know the types of things that go on down there and are not going to frolic in the residue. Sitting on the ground under duress is one thing, lying on the pavement is another
But these women know as well as I that clothes and people can be washed - I am just too rigid to take their lead. Their abandon is refreshing too.
In my memory, I feel there is a day in the spring where you feel that the tide has finally turned and spring has sprung - it may be a little cool, but there is something about that day that speaks to you and whispers - this is the day. I thought that day had arrived several times this year, my hopes only to be dashed by a subsequently cold day. My heat is blasting as I write this.
I once had a close friend, since passed away, who grew up on the east coast and moved to the west coast. He was an adventurer and extremely well traveled to all corners of the earth. We were speaking of this very thing and how the weather and seasons here was so much more unpredictable in NYC compared to California. I scoffed at the term "temperate" zone. His comment was "the east coast has weather, the west coast has climate." So, whether this year has been more unpredictable or my ruminations are wishful thinking with my memory clouded by impatience for warm weather, I do not know. But I do know that in New York, weather means whether ...