What does this kind of weather mean to you? A chance to roll open the windows in the car? Head down to the nearest Dairy Queen? Go for a long walk with the pooch? or your honey?
Not for me.
On days like today...when it seems like Old Man Winter may have finally packed up his bags and headed back to the North Pole...when it finally starts to feel like Spring, and the sun's shining in a bright blue sky, with a noticeable chill in the air...I think of my brother.
Because on the first (somewhat) warm day of the season, we'd pile into our wonderful Dodge Neon after school, roll the windows all the way down (and put the heat on a bit for the ice cube in the passenger seat), and blast Tom Petty's "Free Falling," while singing it at the top of our lungs. Or in the case of my brother...just screaming.
It wasn't always pretty. We'd have our arms out the windows, the sun roof down, and we were just footloose and fancy free. It didn't really matter that we didn't talk all that much otherwise...or that half the school didn't believe we were siblings because (honestly?) we couldn't have been any more different as people. None of that mattered...because one day a year, when that giant fireball in the sky decided to pop its little head out and say hello, and the massive gobs of blackish looking snow melted into sloshy puddles, exposing tufts of brown grass underneath...that one day when it was just warm enough to battle the goosebumps and ditch the jacket...my brother and I bridged the gap. Singing (or screaming) loud and off key, laughing (and getting laughed at by cars passing by). We didn't have a care in the world..we were free falling for that incredibly-lengthy one-mile drive back to our parents' house. It's one of my favorite memories of my brother.
So go on your walk, have some ice cream, chip some golf balls in your front yard. You can have them.
As for me? I'll be cruising around town...with the windows down...screaming "Free Falling" and thinking of my sweet, little (ha, he's 6'2) brother, and those first few days of Spring...sitting in the passenger seat...and singing our hearts out.
And I'm thankful for that :)
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