In Icelandic, gluggavedur (gloo-ka-veh-durr) literally means “window weather,” referring to conditions that are only enjoyable when viewed from inside your home. We have had some prime examples the past week. One enjoyable way to enjoy gluggavedur is snug on a couch with a hot cup of coffee, listening to “The Morning Grind” on 97.9 The Hill.

When I had to venture out into the cold drizzle, I drove into a minor traffic jam, which did not help my mood. The young man holding the stop sign caught my attention as I slowly approached the road work. As he flipped his handheld sign to SLOW, he flashed me a wide grin underneath his hooded raincoat and gave me a thumbs up with his free hand.

This caused me to watch more closely for other cool things. And so, I noticed the sprigs of green that had pushed up from cracks in the wet asphalt; the guy holding his umbrella over his dog as that creature used the bathroom; the crows perched on a telephone wire like notes on a musical scale; a child stomping in the very same puddle that his mother tried to avoid; ducks and geese in conversation beside a pond—perhaps these waterfowl were exclaiming, “This weather is delightful!”

All of these scenes are windows not only into the weather but also into life itself. If you look up into the rain, then your face will get wet. How you choose to see, however, is up to you.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.

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