Just a Soup Away from Spring Beware the Ides of the First 70 Days of the Year I have always found the weeks leading up to spring (for 2017, spring will have sprung on Monday, March 20th) to be slow and irritating. Living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the weather vacillates between winter freezes and summer-like temperatures. This creates a challenge as a home health nurse, stretching my ability to effectively layer my clothing and as well as temper my patience for drivers who panic at just a dusting of snow on our Southwestern roads. My pre-spring stress levels are slightly lower than my winter stress levels, as if we do get a couple inches of snow it will probably be melted by noon, decreasing the likelihood of the dreaded shift call offs due to being “snowed in”. A Shift in Appetite Another challenge of these pre-spring weeks is that as I start to shed layers, I also realize that I am not a bear and my hibernation period should have never existed in the first place. Regret about all those comforting yet heavy winter meals begins to build and the compulsion to eat a bit lighter (aided by slightly […]