Maryland “Spring”

Today is January 11 and it is 60 degrees outside. I am writing from the porch while looking at Christmas lights, unlit but still wrapped around our shrubbery. Climate change? Or, just the fickle weather in Maryland. 

Maryland has always had an identity problem. Are we northern or are we southern – regardless of the placement of the Mason Dixon Line. This winter, our weather has been more like Kelsy’s in Nashville than my brother Tom’s on the Cape. 

The first sentence of this entry on climate in Maryland from worldtravels.com made me laugh: Maryland’s climate varies drastically throughout the year. That is an understatement. We know summers in Maryland are generally hot and humid, and winters are generally snowy and cold. We often do not have a spring weather season and fall is generally short. Cloudy days are pretty common, but when the sun comes out, on a crystal clear day, there is no better place to be than in Maryland.

By now, I have spent more time in Maryland than my youth in Massachusetts and my 20s in NYC. For over 30 years I have called Maryland home and I could not be happier. Moving to the Eastern Shore from the Western Shore a few years ago, provided me and Jim with a different perspective on our beautiful state. Claiming a small piece of the Chester River has been a dream come true. I am forever spoiled, and will have to live on the water for the remainder of my life. I am grounded here and feel at peace when I return home from Kent School at the end of each day.

My office at school is perfectly situated so that the entire Middle School has to walk by to get to the playground for recess. Often students pop in to share something they are grateful for…..my word of the year, and the only way to get a Jolly Rancher or Caramel Cream from my candy bowl. I am always surprised by how many of the students are grateful for some form of weather – they comment on the sun, the rain, the fog, the cold, the warmth, the wish for snow, and they are shaped by all of it. Our playground has an exceptional view of the Chester River. I love that Kent School students are so attuned to our outdoor campus and the benefits of our changing weather. Just wish I could get the boys to wear pants (not shorts), and the girls to wear leggings, in the really cold weather!

So, no matter if the fickle Maryland weather is due to climate change, or just the normal seasons of planet Earth’s aging, it is still a gift to enjoy the porch on a January Saturday. 

Oh, and Go Ravens!