Oh, it’s not quite that bad – although today was a real bracer, and I do love that tune no matter if its done singing or instrumentally. You can tell the locals from those who don’t come from here by the way folks dress when the temps dip below 80 – the locals have sweatshirts and jackets on, the furriners are still walking around in shorts and t-shirts. I kind of split the difference – long pants and a t-shirt. To me it felt like one of those cool mid-April days in Massachusetts when the sun is warm on the face but a cool breeze is blowing.

You don’t realize how much you like the heat until it’s gone. Ever since the weekend we’ve headed into the “deep Arizona winter” months of December and January, where the daytime temps are in the ’60s (not bad, a little cool, but the sun is warm) but the nights are not great for a cocktail (virgin or otherwise) on the back patio. The last couple of nights especially have been downright chilly – in the mid-30s. I long for the days when you step out the back door and a blast of warm air smacks you in the face and the pool deck is still warm to the feet.

I don’t remember ever missing the sun as much as I do this year. That sun angle is so low, and the days so short right now that you want to capture the sun and bottle it so you can take it everywhere you go. It’s dark and the house is cold at 7 AM when I have my first work calls, and my daily 4 PM-ish walks are really pushing the daylight – and warmth – if I get started a half hour or more late. Last Friday afternoon at the driving range it felt weird to hit balls as the sun started going down – I’m used to wearing a brimmed hat and sunglasses, and sweating my innards out under sizzling blue skies and a blazing, unrelenting sun.

At least out here you’re never that far away from the nice nights and the heat – come mid-February things will be looking up. And the come July, like everyone else out here I’ll be counting the weeks down until the second week of October when the sun god flips off the heat switch. Such is life.