Credit: Photorama / Pixabay.com
I find myself to be incredibly sensitive to the seasons around me. Nature seems to have far more control over my mood than I’d like. To say I have a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is an understatement. It is the reason that January, for example, feels so incredibly long and painful to me.
But we aren’t in January anymore. And by the end of May, I should be blissfully walking outdoors, enjoying fresh air and sunshine, right? Well, I’d say Mother Nature has not gotten the memo. The weather in Pennsylvania is not our friend, and she certainly has not moved into spring, let alone a fast-approaching, at least allegedly, summer.
The result for your truly is a moodier monsoon season. It has rained damn near every day, I swear, since it stopped snowing. While I can’t seem to locate precise weather data or historic rainfall amounts, it truly has seemed, according to my own rough calculations, we have had about one sunny day to every six dark rainy days thus far in 2025. And I am personally over it.
Thankfully, I finally did decide to book a real vacation this summer, which is more than needed. That has at least given me something to look forward to, a goal to reach, a (sun)light at the end of my rainy tunnel. But in the meantime, I’m not too happy with this year’s weather. As we prepare to launch into June, I am really over this dark and rainy spring.
Yes, I know Memorial Day Weekend is the “unofficial” start to summer, but the weather by now is usually ahead of schedule. Is it Global Warming? Is it just a rough spring? Am I overreacting?
Does anyone else feel this mood-impacting weather? Do you repeatedly notice you’re happier on sunnier days and sadder on rainy ones? Or am I just that crazy? It’s possible. But, no matter the case, I am over our state’s weather.
I have long joked that “if you don’t like PA’s weather, just wait five minutes.” We are known to have multiple days in a year that will swing all the way from an icy, frosted morning with your home’s heat on, to an afternoon so warm, you must put the windows down to let in the fresh air, to evenings so hot, you finally put on the air conditioner just to stay comfortable. It is not unheard of here.
I used to desperately attempt to have one day that the home’s heat goes on/air goes off, and one day it goes off/air goes on. That is nearly impossible, with the weather’s mood swings this year.
The silver lining of this year’s weather, if there is one, would be we’ve had a hell of a gap between these days. I’m famously known for such days being contained on the same 24 hours, literally flipping the heat over to the A/C with no moments in between, in both my car and home. This year? There is no chance. We’ve had maybe a month of open windows.
This is excellent news from my ever-strained financial budget, meaning we are lessening our carbon footprint and spending less on utilities to keep our space comfortable. That’s a plus. My allergies don’t agree, as a soft dusting of pollen frequently accompanies the open-window comfort, but hey, you really can’t have it all, right?
At the end of the day, this entire frustration over weather likely boils down to one factor. It is a common theme of my angst, and a cause I can typically pin down as the core reason I get upset about things. And it can be described in one simple word: Control.
I cannot control the weather. It does seem to control me far more than I’d prefer. It is often said that, and is a core principle of addiction counseling, that you cannot focus on those things you can’t control. But sadly, it is a massive internal struggle for me.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
At the conclusion of meetings, like Alcoholics Anonymous, they often say this phrase aloud, together, in unison. It is a good reminder, no matter what the higher power (if one at all) you believe in, to understand clearly those things you cannot control.
While I often think I have the “wisdom to know the difference,” it is “serenity” I seem to lack when it comes to those instances that are out of my own control. I know, for example, when a friend is upset and lashes out at me, that I can only choose how I react to that action. I cannot control the other person’s action. I can only select my own response.
But weather? There is not even a single entity, ongoing problem, or solution that I can impact. There is no one thing to blame for this. So, I have no control, AND I lack space to vent my frustration on the matter.
Except for here. Part of writing a weekly column is purely selfish. It is a space to vent my problems. It is an area to commiserate with others, to share how I feel, and hopefully, let you the reader know you are not alone.
When it comes to weather, I’m over this rain. Please tell me a sunny summer is on its way! Until then, I am stuck internally fuming about the state of our dark and stormy days.
