Wintry weather swiftly wanes

Were we the only ones last week wondering where we’d just woken up?

OK, that sounds bad, but bear with us.

A look at the thermometer Sunday and Monday had us cockeyed and squinting in astonishment. Did it really say the temperature was in the 30s? Maybe we were reading it wrong. A quick bit of math, and we figured it couldn’t be in Celsius. No way it was nearing 100 degrees out. (Note to younger readers: You will use some of that high school learning later in life, just as your teachers say.)

Apparently, true -- well, almost true -- winter weather had hit Newport-Mesa. It was cold enough to bundle up. It was cold enough not to want to go outside. It, unfortunately, wasn’t quite cold enough not to go to work.

But then a few hours passed. Normalcy returned with a mercury climbing into the 60s. The sun shined. The sunset Monday night was one of those spectacular, only-over-the-Pacific types. Oranges and purples and streaks of red guided the sun down.

And another perfect day in paradise was over.