The beginning of 2014 has been an unusual weather year for Homer Alaska. It has been warm all the time and at my house all the snow has melted. Currently the weather is in the upper 40 degree range and I have seen it hit 50 once on my thermometer. The forecast is for more warm weather the next week and it may not get below freezing.

The ironic thing about this weather is that while it is warm in Alaska it has been cold in the Midwest. I grew up in a small town in Indiana and the temperature there has been hovering around 0 degrees. The arctic cold has placed itself over the Midwest and the warm spring air is filling Alaska.

As you might imagine, my family and I are loving the warmer weather. Heavy coats are left on the hanger and I am thinking of heading out metal detecting tomorrow afternoon. To me this is a huge blessing.

The funny thing for me is that in the last 3 days I have had two conversations with long-term Alaskans. They are both very unhappy about the warmer weather. They like the cold and the snow. They like snowmobiling and sledding and cold winter activities. Both of these men said the exact same thing without even talking to each other. Both said, “Many more winters like this and I am moving down below.”

Today, after the second conversation, it hit me that what I see as a blessing others see as a curse. One experience but two totally different perspectives. Then I found myself wondering, “What is there is there in my life that I see as a curse that someone else might see as a blessing?” “What if I changed my perspective about the circumstances of my life?” Maybe a curse might turn out to be nice warm spring blessing.