It's the End of the World as We Know It

I hate this time of year.
The end of the previous year has constant distractions of hunting, extra time off work for Holidays while the season's are changing.  For a while, the cooler temperatures are kind of nice.  As per my last post, I often have a trip South Carolina in the winter.  But after that, it seems there is nothing to look forward to.
We get teaser days this time of year where we see warm weather.  And, it was warm (and dry) enough to ride the motorcycle to work one day this week.  However, lasting days of warm weather are at least a month away, and probably more.  The current teasers are just that.  Almost as importantly, unless I can find some something else to do with last years left over vacation, my next adventure is still many months away.
It is during this time of year more than most, where work seems to fill my synapses almost constantly.  This year is worse since there is so much activity at work, which equates to stress.  With nothing else to occupy my brain I end up thinking about work nearly constantly.  Depressing.
This to shall pass.  It will soon start getting warmer.  The grass will soon need mowing.  By the end of April I'll be forced to take the last of last year's vacation - which is probably a good thing.  I'll get excited about projects around the house like moving the patio stones and redoing the driveway rocks (thrilling, right).  The contentment of a freshly mowed lawn, even if there are muddy tracks on it will be here.  Even thinking about some of the things I want to do outside almost acts as a slight elixir to my mood; I know I won't in reality do many of them though.  This time of year, that is beside the point.
For now, I'll just try to find ways to turn off after work.
And, I hate this time of year.

The South (as it wasn't)

I just got back from a trip to South Carolina.  I've gone there many times at this time of the year.  It is usually an easy trip to take, weather permitting and as a result I've seen countless sunrises at the Kentucky/Tennessee border.  I'm typically on the interstate, but that part of the country is in the Appalachians, nearing the Smokies.  The mountains seen from the interstate are pretty and  I often think I should stop to take a picture, but always just try to snap a photo through the window.  Taking pictures in the low light of a sunrise from a moving car doesn't work very well.

A few family vacations aside, we didn't travel much as a kid and when we did it was often just to close-by relatives.  Growing up in Michigan, the South always had a mystique about it.  I saw the South as a place where winter never happened.  All those states were always warm and people wore shorts year round.  Exploding fireworks were legal there and I could only imagine that they were available at nearly every store.  Since few things were more fun than roman candles ore M-80s, I had to assume they fireworks must be a daily part of existence in the South.

Now that I've traveled more, the truth is more mundane.  Kentucky is only a few miles away and it routinely gets snow in the winter.  I've been in southern coastal South Carolina and seen snow on the ground, although it didn't last long.  Fireworks availability is much more wide spread now, but 30 years ago many southern states restricted them while some northern states allowed them.  I only recall one day when I was in the south where fireworks were lit off.  This was at an acquaintance's house in Florida in early March a few years ago, and the fireworks were actually brought from Michigan.  So much for the belief in Southern Romanticism.

For now, there is always the sunrise on the Kentucky/Tennessee border.