The Pink Shoe Diaries

we as New Englanders have much to be proud about: gorgeous autumns, a rich colonial history, the distinction of not being red states, and so on.

we also have miserable weather, which in many ways we are as proud of as we are of anything else. because if we didn't have this miserable weather, what would we talk about?

who wants to talk about beautiful golden-red maple leaves when we can complain about Nor'easters and blizzards and endless days without sun?

take today, for instance: it is disgusting out. it's 40 degrees, it is pouring rain, the wind is gusting 65 miles per hour and above, it's dark as night at 10AM. but when i got in my car this morning, (after retriving my handbag from under my car where it was blown by a particularly fierce gust) i wasn't scared, and i wasn't daunted by the 25 mile drive ahead of me, nor by Doug Meehan's ominous "it's going to be a loooong ride in today" on Fox 25 Morning News. i was determined: i am going to get on that highway and I am going to get to work on time and a little rain, and a little pitch blackness and a little hurricane strength wind does NOT frighten me, because i am a New Englander.

and so what if it took me an hour and a half to get to work this morning? my commute is my badge of courage, and i can now join in on the "oh my god did you SEE route 128 this morning" conversations and the "how many accidents did you pass" contests.

i call it an evolved sense of optimism. yes, the weather is atrocious but WE can handle it and drive through it and then all day we can say things like "rainy enough for you?" or the more sarcastic "beautiful weather, eh?"

and it makes us just that much more appreciative of the good days.