Global Warming: Remember Winter?

It was in the 50's today in Ohio. I took my dog to the park for a leisurely walk in the sunshine. I didn't need an overcoat. We drove past a guy mowing his lawn.

MOWING HIS LAWN! IN DECEMBER! THE END OF DECEMBER, FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!!

Okay, after reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear, I was prepared to believe that all the global warming hoopla was just that -- media-incensed tripe designed to give the unwashed masses another boogeyman under their collective beds.

And yeah, the movie "Day After Tomorrow" gave me the willies and caused me to rethink my position on climate change briefly. But I got over it.

I'm not so sure now.

I miss winter. Don't get me wrong, I'm no skiing nut or sledding enthusiast or fan of cold weather in general. I hate driving in it and bundling up against it. Possibly the only good thing about a blanket of snow was that when I let my dog into the backyard to answer nature's call, he came back in clean.

But winter reminded me of the cycle of life. Birth, growth, maturity, decline and death -- they marched across the landscape with inevitability and certainty.

The freakish weather makes me very uncertain.

For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Whatever goes up must come down. For every yin there is a yang.

So when will the other climactic shoe fall? And will we survive it any better than the polar bear is surviving this?

The Christmas Card Conundrum

As I was addressing my holiday cards a few days back, it occurred to me that I tend to categorize my card recipients. Maybe you do, too. Maybe everyone does. It goes something like this:
"The Always Send List"
These are the friends and close family that you always send Christmas cards, regardless of your current relationship or whether they send you a card or not. These are the folks who get the good cards, written early in the process when you write actual sentiments and take real care addressing the envelopes.
"The Keeping In Touch List"
These are the folks you only communicate with once a year -- college friends, distant relations, former co-workers, and so forth. You send them a card, often enclosing one of those trite, poorly written "catch up" letters and signing just your name. (Depending on how long it's been since you last saw them, you may sign both first and last names.) If you don't hear back from them after a few years, they risk dropping to the next category:
"The Obligation List"
These are the last people on your holiday wish list. If you bought several different cards, these folks get the cheap ones. You are only sending them a card because of some real or (most likely) perceived sense of obligation. Professional contacts rank on this list, "friends of friends," in-laws neither you nor your mate particularly like, etc. You mostly send these because you fear the ramifications of not sending them.
"The Reverse Send List"
This last category isn't really a list at all, but a reaction to having received a card from someone who dropped off (or never made) one of the previous lists. Sometimes, you'll personalize these with a statement about what a nice surprise it was to get their card. (This, of course, is kind of an acknowledgment that you never intended to send them a card, but a well-intentioned thought, nonetheless.)

Of course, if you got a card from me this year, you must be on the top of my list. Really.