Dark cool mornings

Even in the throes of our wettest winters, which can send California transplants hurrying back to their native landscapes, there are elements of cold gray weather to be appreciated. I'm not one to savor being awakened by loudly cheerful birds and glaring sunlight, so those dim rainy hours after dawn suit me nicely these days. Time to pull up out of dreaming gradually, with snoozing, lightly snoring cats sprawled about the bed; time to read a page or so, in order to wipe away any webbed nightmares. We've had a small taste of spring, so these dimmer days are a sweet contrast. Nothing can compare to the year we had 99 consecutive days of rain, and outdoor recesses at the school where I was teaching went ahead without delay. Three months and more of shivering on recess duty, November to March, watching kids joyfully soak themselves; the alternative was the madness of endless indoor recesses. So, I relish these quiet cool awakenings.
And we often have a payoff later in the day. It's creeping into the 60's at about 3:00, and I ran in a sleeveless top.
Beloved spouse came home, wanted a walk, so we headed out to try an Italian place we'd seen up on Phinney Ridge. It happened to be half price on bottles of wine on Tuesday nights, so we ordered some ravioli and gnocchi and had a swell repast. Lovely cool clear night for ambling around.