So this morning it's heavily overcast, spitting rain. Not enough rain to rinse the car clean, mind you, but enough to dampen the sidewalk and make muddy round spots on the car's hood.

So far, my lawn is not impressed; the roses yawn; the tomatoes shrug.

The funny thing is that it's a warm rain. The temperature is around 16 degrees Centigrade. Yet I see people who have convinced themselves that if it's overcast and rainy, it must be cold. They walk to the bus stop, the sky having lightened a bit to acknowledge the unseen sun, bundled up in quilted jackets, gloves, ear muffs, mufflers, boots.

I am astonished once again by the power of the human ability to twist reality by imagining some other "truth". If I see it every day at an ordinary MTA bus stop, why am I surprised to encounter it on a wider political stage?

To answer my own question--no, it's not winter yet. Just a cooler interlude.