Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Santa Ana Winds---in Minnesota?

All of us have probably heard of the Santa Ana winds. They come around late winter and blow east from the hot dessert into the Santa Ana California valley. Temps go up and it is a sign that spring and summer are close.

Minnesota has been getting a similar phenomena this week with the Iowa Winds. Okay, that is made up, but the winds from the south (Iowa) are warm and all of a sudden it is 74 degrees on March 31st...in Minnesota.

So today's question is: Are you a half full or half empty kind of person?

The winds and temperature changes are one way to answer this question. Stay with me here!

So if you are a half full kind of person you look at things from the positive lens. You say 'at least it is half full'. You are the partly sunny kind of person. Always looking at how any event can take on a positive twist.

If you are a half empty kind of person you look at things from a not so positive lens. You are the partly cloudy kind of person and see the clouds as a negative to the other part, aka the sun.

The winds and temperature changes have put me in a real bind as usually I am a half full kind of gal, but I find myself thinking 74 degrees in March is not a good thing. Maybe it is because I analyze things to much or maybe because it has been 130 years since we have seen a snowless March, or maybe because I haven't changed over my clothes to spring clothes yet. Whatever the reason, I feel like a half empty kind of gal lately.

This may not seem like such a huge disaster for many, but it goes completely against my value system, so in short it is a huge disaster for me. I am vowing today to change back to the half full kind of statements...so here are my changes.

1. It sure is great that we are getting a break from the cold weather before the end of May.
2. It sure has been nice to get a few of my summer clothes out and pressed so early in the year.
3. It sure is nice to see people out walking their dogs again with the nice weather.
4. It sure is nice that we can enjoy the Iowa Winds more this year.

When I lived in California they had a saying that "anything can happen when the Santa Ana Winds blow". If you have ever seen the movie "The Holiday" they use that line. It is true. Anything can happen and it is how we react to the event that makes the difference.

Are you half full or half empty today?

1 comment:

  1. I have been practicing being half full...I'm getting more use to it. Coming from Colorado, March was the time of year where we flew kites in Denver and went spring skiing in the mountains--some people skiied in shorts because of the warm temps and the full sun. I did that once and got one of the worst sunburns of my life...thankfully I was young and the burn was a badge of honor in Colorado circles.

    I also lived in Wyoming were the wind blows constantly. Not a gentle breeze blowing, but a gale force blowing that rocks houses and drives people insane. I do not want to live there again.

    I've lived in MN a little over 5 yrs now, and I really don't have any idea what to expect from the weather. That's kind of nice--I just go with whatever hoping I've got enough on in case it's going to be freezing outside.

    My half full outlook also tells me that the sun is shining even on cloudy days. I am looking forward to warmth and being outside more. I have my shorts hanging on the door and my sweat pants right next to them--I'm ready.

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