Sunday Morning Rain Is Falling

After an extremely productive Saturday - two presentations written, three loads of laundry done, the first layer of a new painting finished, and my nails manicured :) - my Sunday dawned rainy and slightly lazy. Of course in this case the best thing is to cuddle under a blanket with a book and a cup of tea, which I did for a bit before heading out to lunch.

I was shopping for a gift for a friend of mine on Thursday evening, and after hours of going from store to store and not finding anything she would like, I took a short break and headed to the bookstore to clear my head. I ended up buying a couple of books, and one of them was an amazing edition of E. E. Cummings poems in Bulgarian, published by Жанет 45, which became an instant favorite. The poetry is great (which I knew already), but I was also really impressed by the design of the book and the illustrations by Liuba Haleva. Luxurious paper that feels like satin, a matte laminated cover and thoughtful graphics in red, black, white and gold make the poetry book an experience for all your senses. I loved curling up with it and listening to the rain pattering gently.

Also, I couldn't refrain from sharing a photo of my savory plant - I bought it from a garden store two weeks ago and ever since then it has been growing like crazy, much to my dismay and pleasure, of course. It has brought a definite springtime spirit to my house, and I love it. It smells of new beginnings, and herbs, and nature, and home.

A Snowless Winter

I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I seriously miss snow.

Despite the fact that I was a February baby, born smack in the middle of winter here in Bulgaria and no stranger to freezing weather and snowstorms, I never liked the cold very much. You'd think I learned from that as I older, but I guess I didn't, since I went to college in Maine of all places. In my defense, it didn't occur to me to think about the climate when applying to college. In the past five years or so I have gotten progressively cold-averse, spending winters huddled under blankets, with thick socks on my feet and multiple layers of clothing. I also tend to crank up the heating in my house, much to Pavel's chagrin, who went as far as going out on the snow-covered terrace in his underwear one morning last year to cool off. It was hilarious.

Through all these snowy and cold winters, whenever I would shiver, and that was often, I would think about what it would be like to live on Bora Bora or at least somewhere like California. I thought I'd have a blast with the lack of winter, maybe making an exception for the winter holidays. I am a sucker for a white Christmas.

So guess what? This winter we've had exactly one snowfall here is Sofia, which was back in November or something, and since then it has been completely dry with the occasional week of thick fog. No snow. Above 0 C temperatures. I should be in heaven right now. Except I'm not.

Through all my whining about winter, I never factored in the fact that having lived in a four-season environment my whole life, my body is used to a certain progression of the weather. Now that the progression is all out of whack, my body feels uneasy, like it's waiting for something to happen, and yet nothing happens. It's like being suspended in the same late fall, early winter season for months and months, and it's annoying me. I remember back when I was living in London, I had a similar problem with the lack of sunshine. It was seriously messing with my mood in ways that you don't pick up on at once, but they are there, and they pile up.

So can I have some snow please? Not asking for a full on snowstorm, just one tiny quiet pretty snowfall. I promise I'll try not to whine about snow next winter...maybe.

What do you think? Have you experienced unexpected discomfort related to the weather somewhere?