Give Lake Oswegans (or most Oregonians, for that matter) one day of sunshine and gone and forgotten are the gray days, the wet and windy days, the threat of freezing rain days. We have this incredible capacity to be in the moment and as a result squeeze more joy and satisfaction out of one sunny day than a southern Californian might eek out of a whole season!

Here’s why I know it’s not just me that suffers (or should I say, benefits) from this affliction (or should I say, blessing).

●The line queuing up at the car wash when our periods of winter doldrums are interrupted by a blue sky day.

●The checkers at the grocery store who ask what my plans are for enjoying the nice weather

●The neighbors who have been missing in action all winter that suddenly appear in their yards, walking down our street, or taking a bike ride.

●The raid on flowers at Al’s Garden Center, Fred Meyer’s and other local nurseries when the temperatures rise just a bit and the ground is tillable.

●The talk about the great forecast in the locker room at my club as though a few days of sunshine are as exciting to talk about as a Blazer win.

●The crowded parking lot at Home Depot as do-it-yourselfers come out in droves to tackle the outdoor projects they’ve been putting off until good weather arrives.

●Kids that are seen walking to school in shorts and t-shirts when the day before they were bundled up in their winter sweats.

This all runs contra to the negativity bias which suggests that negative things have a greater impact (some researchers estimate three times greater) on our psychological state than positive. That would mean we’d need almost an entire summer of good weather before we could start putting some psychological distance between us and a bad winter.

Well, the researchers need to come to Lake Oswego. Because we don’t need a whole season—heck, just give us a good day…and consider us inoculated against winter doldrums completely with a week’s worth of sunny days. Catch me in the middle of a warm summer day and I’ll have no recollection of anything but that glorious sunshine beating down on me at that very moment. It may be short term memory loss but you won’t find me complaining.

You too can be blessed with this affliction should you decide to move to Lake Oswego. Let me show you around. I’ve been helping people find homes in Lake Oswego for over 25 years and I’d love to put my experience to work for you! Give me a call at 503.939.9801 and/or check out my website.