Editor’s note: for the next two weeks we’ll be running the best of our This Ordinary Day pieces. We’ve enjoyed working with so many great writers and wonderful people and felt it was high time to take a look back at some of what they’ve brought us. If you’d like to see more pieces, please take a trip over to our archives page — it’ll be well worth your time.

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My home state of Kansas often reminds me of an old boyfriend. He would drive me crazy for weeks until I would decide that I had enough. Just when I had worked up the courage to break up with him, he would do something so wonderful and unexpected I would fall in love with him all over again.

A few weeks ago I was fed up with Kansas. It was a combination of the state government’s cuts on education, Fred Phelps staging anti-gay protests at local high schools and the fact that the weather in Kansas was depressing and boring. For what seemed like weeks it had been cold and gray. We hadn’t even had a good snowstorm, which meant that my school hadn’t used a snow day. Snow days are usually the only reason I look forward to winter. The lack of sun made it difficult to get out of bed in the morning and even my dog didn’t want to go outside in the cold. I felt that if I had to stay in Kansas a moment longer, I would lose my mind. When Punxsutawney Phil announced that there would be six more weeks of winter, I finally felt I had the courage to leave Kansas forever.

Then I awoke one morning to news that it was going to be 70 degrees and sunny. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I took my winter coat and hat just in case. All day at work I kept my phone in my pocket so I could check the current temperature. I did a secret cheer when it reached 50. I danced a little when I noticed the sun peeking out around lunchtime. Around 2 p.m. I checked my phone again: 68 degrees. I still didn’t believe it. A 70-degree day in February? It was too good to be true.

But when I stepped out into the parking lot after work, I discovered that such a thing was possible. It was warm, sunny and the sky was a shade of blue I figured was only imaginable with the help of Photoshop. The streets of downtown were packed with people in T-shirts and sunglasses. I drove the entire way home with the window down.

For three days the weather held. My winter coat stayed on the coat rack. We turned off the heat completely. My roommate and I took our dogs to the dog park and let them run free with the dozens of other dogs. Our students got extra-long recesses. The sidewalks and parks of Lawrence were filled with people. Each of us was trying to soak in all the sunshine and heat we could. And like that I was reminded of what I like about Kansas and what I would miss should I ever find the courage to move to one of the coasts. Because even in the midst of a long winter, Kansas finds a way to remind me that spring is just around the corner.

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