What a difference a year makes.

(The following is my Neosho Daily News column from two weeks ago - when we were still enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures.)

Just twelve months ago I was thrilled to be sleeping on the floor of my office eating whatever we had left in the vending machines. We were in the midst of a blizzard in southwest Missouri and I was one of only a handful of people working in the office. I was thrilled to be able to curl up on the floor to sleep because only hours earlier I had gotten lost in the storm driving from Neosho to Joplin.

The snow was so heavy and the wind so strong that the “green monster” van’s windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the snow. I had no idea if I was heading up, down or sideways. When I finally gave up and called for help I was only twenty feet or so from the ramp to 32^nd Street but I might have well as been at 7^th. I was thoroughly and utterly confused and unable to find my way.

I got a text from a former co-worker that simply read “Remember where we were and what we were doing 12 months ago? What a difference a year makes!”

Last year we were praying for the temperature to get above 20 degrees and for the sun simply to tease us with its rays. This year we’re stomping around in balmy mid-sixty degree weather. Birds are singing and the breeze hints of spring. An even surer sign is the fact that my Okie toes have only been subjected to socks a half-dozen times. I even gave careful consideration to donning a favorite pair of sandals this past weekend.

I will never complain about warm temperatures or beautiful winter skies. Give me a calm Ozark’s winter any day. After the crazy rollercoaster ride of 2011 we’re due.