My mood has a weather app.

My emotional well-being is now controlled by a giant ball of hot gas and I am not talking about Agent Orange.

The weather has become my therapist, life coach, and occasional tormentor.

A bright blue sky, low humidity, makes me want to embrace life. I walk the beach, have lunch outside, swim, willingly do errands I been avoiding.

Then it rains.

Rain does give me permission to do absolutely nothing without feeling guilty. Coffee. A good book. Maybe a delayed departure from bed. If anyone questions my productivity, I’ll simply point at the window. Mother Nature clearly had other plans.

Then there is Florida in the summer.

The sky is postcard perfect. Not a cloud in sight.

Step outside, however, and it is like opening the door to a giant convection oven. You do not walk, you marinate. The humidity hits you like a warm, wet towel someone forgot in the gym. Even the lizards look overheated.

The cruel joke? It’s gorgeous outside, provided you admire it from behind double-pane glass with the air conditioning set to Arctic.

I have decided the weather does not just change the temperature. It changes our expectations.

Sunshine screams, go conquer the world.

Rain and snow say, the world can wait.

Florida in July says, You live indoors now, unless you have mechanical pool chillers in your pool or the beach is not overburdened with seaweed, making the ocean completely unappealing.

Weather can also affect your day according to your hair type.

Mine multiples in the heat and humidity. It is as if I am a living Chia Pet…no need for Nutrafol.

Now if you will please excuse me, I need to check tomorrow’s forecast.

Apparently, that is how I decide who I am going to be.