"On This Glary Random Day"

Oklahoma's typically schizophrenic weather struck again today, dropping the temperature about fifteen or twenty degrees between the time I went to bed last night and the time I woke up this morning.

It always seems unseasonably warm in September and October (and even into November) in Oklahoma, as though the temperature should not still be getting up into the seventies (and eighties and ninties in September and October). I marvel at this apparent abberation every year, but today I came to a realization--weather of that sort, with the temperature still so seemingly high, is normal for this place.

See, I've always had what is perhaps an idealized idea of what the weather is supposed to be like after Labor Day. September should start the cooling off process, and it should be cool enough that jeans and a shirt are the preferred clothing, but not so cold yet that you need a coat or scarf or anything. October should drop it down a few more notches, such that a jacket is necessary for comfort. By November, we ought to need coats and perhaps scarves and wooly hats to be warm in prolonged sojurns out into the weather.

But the weather in Oklahoma...never follows that pattern. Maybe I really have dreamed all these years that the weather here follows some other location's patterns. I really think that Oklahoma's weather has always been a bit warmer in the fall months than I wanted to admit. It would make sense, to an extent, but it doesn't explain why virtually everyone marvels year after year at the seemingly bizzare and unpredictable Oklahoma temperatures. We all seem to have been duped by the weather, and every year we all think it should be cooler than it actually is.

Regardless, the dreariness of today's weather kept me closeted away in the bedroom for most of the day. I went to work this morning, came back, ate a bite, and slept for four or five hours. Then I got up and went back to work. I also managed during the two showers I took today to get soap in my left eye. Both times. It's uncanny and inexplicable, much like a tornado in November.

Oh, did I mention we had tornadoes yesterday? Yeah, the inexplicability of life isn't quite so inexplicable to me anymore, I've decided. Weird stuff happens.

Anyway, tomorrow is (thankfully) payday. It's also Amy's last day at work, which makes me more than a little sad. She's a wonderfully sweet young lady who added a measure of charm, beauty, and fun to working there, and her spark and smile will be missed. On the other hand, it gives me a glimmer of hope--she's getting out of here, so can Ev and so can I. We can escape.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Radiohead, "How to Disappear Completely"