Pretty on 2/2

It was a beautiful morning here in my corner of Pittsburgh on the second day of February.

After day upon day of gray, cloudy skies, early morning sunlight beamed through, painting clouds pink against blue sky.

Twist and I had a lovely walk; it seemed like spring the air was so warm and full of birds singing.

As the day waned, though, so did the weather and by about two, the slab of gray overhead had returned, snowflakes were flying and the air was freezing. I watched misery return from my office window Downtown, where I had hung up my short coat nowhere near long enough to cover me for the trip home.

Despite the change in barometric pressure and precipitation, Twist and I had another lovely walk at dusk.

The wind wasn't gusting too hard and swirls of flakes slipped back and forth across the black asphalt, changing in formation from flame to tail to spiral, then vanishing altogether before gathering together again under the wind's direction.

It's not easy to appreciate this beauty; I usually take the easy way out and take it for granted, or take it not at all.

But February really forces your hand. You can be totally cranky-bitter till the end of March, or soldier on, like the valiant Northerner you are, poured into and forged from the same mold mold Calvin's crazy bike-riding Dad.

I tend to fall into to the cranky-bitter mold, myself, but, hey, had an off day today.

So, beautiful today and I'll live with tomorrow, tomorrow.