Finally getting a taste of Summer

After a very dreary weekend here in Vancity, the weather has finally decided to smarten up and act its season. For the first time in weeks I haven't had to turn on the space heater that hides under my desk to ineffectually keep one side of my left thigh warm while the rest of my body freezes in this lofty ice box they've dubbed "office building" here at BCLA. (Why then did I even bother with the heater you ask? Well, my hope was that the limited contact area would at least warm up the blood that was circulating past that part of my leg and carry some of the heat to the rest of me. Two months of testing this hypothesis however has proven my limited understanding of the human circulatory system, and my gross overestimation of my own body's ability to actually circulate ANYTHING.)
I know the weather usually isn't a great topic of conversation (traditionally, it's brought up when someone has, ahem, nothing else to talk about), but it's so central to life here in BC that it occupies a good portion of my daily interactions (this fact could not, of course, possibly mean that the people I interact with on a daily basis can't think of anything else to say to me ... I am not as unfathomable as all that ... am I?). Since the weather here is so consistently different and surprising to the "folks back home", weather also makes up a great proportion of my correspondence (among other vastly entertaining topics!). Last week, my mother was bemoaning sunburnt feet from wearing her sandals out in the sun, and my brother left me on MSN to go out on the deck and "sun himself." Meanwhile, I was still wearing gloves to work each day.
In the middle of March, while Ontario was still in the grip of winter, I was sending out pictures of the blossoming cherry trees that line both sides of our street, with reassurances that spring was indeed on the way.
Now, British Columbians on one side are assuring me that it is unseasonably cold, while on the other, Ontarians are warning me not to expect anything like Ontario's heavy summer heat. Who to believe? Although I'd like to think the BCns have their own province figured out, the minor shift in temperatures from ~12 C, to ~16 has them all sporting flip-flops and shorts.
Either way, the sun this week is a welcome reprieve. Whether or not it's still on the cool side, one thing that's certain is that the dramatic shifts from long periods of rain into sun definitely affects moods out here. For the grace of two sunny days, Vancouver is already a happier, shinier place this week. For this reason alone I hope it continues.