grumpy.

Something I've noticed about weather-dependent people like myself is that it's never cold and rainy on your days off when you WANT it to be. Okay, to be fair, Central Oregon is almost never cold and rainy, but here I am at work, begging the clock to move faster.

You see, on a cold and rainy day, there is a subconscious part of my brain that goes into "indoor mode." In this mode, I can play lazy music, drink tea, leaf through a magazine, or craft something impromptu and splendid. I can also watch a movie, snuggled on the sofa with a purring dog, or stare wistfully out a window at the rain and daydream about all the amazing things I want to do with my life.

I don't want to sound ungrateful for the sunshine because, obviously, a warm day is equally as fantastic. But I go into "outdoor mode," where anything I do indoors brings with it an immediate sense of guilt. I should be walking the dog, I think to myself, or working in the garden, or hiking, or taking photos, or (blah blah blah). Now, it isn't that I don't love to do those things, but indoor mode is so scrumptiously cozy that I yearn for it here in the high desert. On the East Coast, indoor mode is easy to come by any time of the year; here, it's so rare that when a day comes such as today, everything in my body wants to be at home with the music, teapot, and fat-pants on.

And I love my job, don't get me wrong; I've had lots of fun interactions today and got peed on half a dozen times by a Great Basin Spadefoot toad. But on my break I also discovered half a dozen design blogs that have me peeing my pants to get home and - yes, I'm going to say it - sitting on the sofa reading about interior design and DIY space-savers.

On the bright side, a newspaper writer stopped by with her photographer and did a little write-up on the Nature Center for tomorrow's paper. They photoged the toad and she scribbled down the deep thoughts I was relaying about instilling appreciation for resources in children because, in thirty years, they'll be the ones caring for those resources. And nothing really stirs my soul in quite the same way that the quiet, gentle chirps of a Golden Eagle responding to the sound of my voice can.

While we're on this topic, I'd like to mention my intense dislike for those times when it's cold and rainy AND the sun pokes out every now and then. Most people I know love this weather phenomenon and I remember hearing as a child that it was referred to as "the devil beating his wife," though it would take some research for me to figure out what on earth that means. For me, however, I like it one way or the other - indoor mode or outdoor mode. I can't switch back and forth once I've already mentally committed.

You can't put the fat pants on if there's a chance you'll have to take them off 10 minutes later.