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Tuesday, January 23, 2007 For a week now, the mornings have dawned gray, dark, cool. And though evening daylight is now lasting longer, the a.m. sun is dragging its tired ass above the morning horizon late, darkness not giving way to light until close to eight o'clock. Good conditions for sleeping, at least for me, but after two or three days the continued gray gets to me. All last week, from Monday on -- gray, dark mornings. Until Saturday brought clear skies, lifting my spirits like I would be hard-pressed to describe. All week long, the local weather types predicted the arrival of a cold wave for the weekend -- repeated, emphatic warnings of hard winter conditions. All day long, Monday through Friday. And what happens? Saturday arrives with sunshine, mild temperatures, the air carrying a hint of springtime. As in many places, there is real concern here in Spain about this season's lack of true winter conditions, going far beyond the concern for cold-weather businesses suffering from near total lack of snow -- in the north, where reservoirs were never built because rainfall had always been reliably plentiful, precipitation has decreased notably, to the point that some communities have imposed limitations on the use of water and expressions of nervousness about long-term climactic change has become normal to see in the media. I understand all the concern. But I will confess that after five gray, chilly days, I had no problem with the arrival of something more springlike, dry and mild Sunday: mostly gray. News still claiming winter was on the way, with nothing concrete to show for all the warnings. During the nighttime hours, the mercury crept down to lower levels, forcing me to turn on the heat for a little while, only the second time I've had to that so far. And then yesterday morning: chilly and gray again, mist hanging in the air, dampening sidewalks. During the day, finally, snow began falling north and west of Madrid. And continued falling, news people expressing relief and filling up hours of air time with reports from snowy villages and highways. No snow here in the city, though, as has become customary in these years of gradual warming. Chilly, but no snow. And strangely, the clouds cleared here midafternoon, despite continued storm conditions north and west. But as soon as the late afternoon sun slipped down behind buildings, the flat took on a nasty chill. A wintry chill. This morning, when I stumbled into one of the local wake-up joints, for the first time that I can remember the tube was off. The radio was on, music played. Maybe they'd grown sick of the constant weather babble. Don't know for sure and didn't ask, I needed caffeine and couldn't formulate coherent questions until later. And by the time I could, my thoughts had turned to other things. But I won't bore you with them. Not this time around, anyway. España, te quiero. rws 12:46 PM [+]
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