craving winter

the other night i was just mindlessly walking out my front door to go downstairs and fulfil the innocent task of changing out our load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, not at all realizing a deep need in me was about to be rudely awakened...and then i was blasted with the most intoxicating wonderful smell i could ever dream of smelling... someone in our neighborhood was using a wood-burning stove and the smoke had filled the crisp night air. i almost died and went to heaven. the whole quintessential fantasy of winter obviously does not exist in florida and i never dreamed i would literally ache for it. now i feel like a crack fiend. except instead of dope, it's cozy log cabins in a secluded woods, sitting in hot-tubs while it snows, snuggling by a fireplace with a mug of hot spiced apple cider... i actually get grumpy when it's sunny with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. i mean, doesn't the weather know it's november??? yes i know, i do feel guilty, people pay to visit places like florida to escape their winters... but i'm even considering letting go of my 'rule' of waiting to pull out the x-mas decorations and the x-mas music until after thanksgiving in hopes of easing the pain...and in my car i have a cd of hawaiian music that i listen to while i blast my a/c so i can pretend i'm on vacation when i drive by palm trees seen thru essential sunglasses because the sun is so bright. *sigh* it's admittingly pathetic that pretending to be on vacation makes the lack of winter easier to deal with than enjoying the reality of wearing t-shirts and visiting the beach in november. i'm going to regret this post someday i bet.