Posts tagged ‘winter’

April 16, 2013

Melt! Would ya?

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You may have noticed that I’ve fallen a wee bit behind on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, but in an effort to make it up, I’m going to attempt to post a two-fer each day this week.  In other words, the letter for this day last week as well as the letter for this day this week.  For example, last Monday was M, today is S, so I will attempt to post both M and S today.  On to M!

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This was yesterday.  Okay, actually, it was last week, Tuesday to be exact.  I went for a walk around a nearby lake with my son after he got home from school.  It was a beautiful afternoon! The sun was shining after being in hiding for about a week and a half and snowing for just about as many days.  This day, however, the snow was melting and we couldn’t have had a more lovely walk.

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Ducks were approaching in pairs every direction we turned.  In fact, birds of all kinds were out and about.  Their conversations were flying back and forth above our heads.  It was a nice reprieve from the unseasonably long winter we’re having.

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Looking across the lake, the golden haze of the buds on the Willow trees let us know that spring, is indeed, coming.

Like I said.  That was last Tuesday.

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Wednesday, it started snowing again.

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And Thursday we woke up to this.

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Try as I may, my spring planter didn’t look exactly springy.

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And even our snowman looked a little droopy.

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But the dogs? Yea, they thought it was pretty groovy.

Then along came the weekend.  Things started to warm up… a little.  Saturday was in the low 40s F, Sunday the low 50s F.  (It “should” be about 60F by now.)

Each day, I look out at the snow and think, “Melt!  Would ya?”.  And magically, little by little, it does.  In fact, today most of our yard can be seen once again with the exception of just a few patches of snow left here and there.

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And this morning, the sun was shining brightly and the landscape looked quite cheery.  I peeked into my planter and was pleased to see my bulbs are still there, right where they were a week ago, their little heads poking out of the soil.  I don’t have the heart to tell them that it’s not over.

That’s right.  The sun is already gone again and the next front is on its way in.

And tonight?  Yep, we are under yet another winter storm warning…  The forecast:?

Overcast with snow and thunderstorms. Low of 32F with a windchill as low as 23F. Breezy. Winds from the North at 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 100% with accumulations up to 8 in. possible.

Oh, well.  Some day.  Some day the snow will melt for good and I will actually be able to plant my garden.

A girl can dream, right?

Kate

p.s. – Has anyone found Punxsutawney Phil yet?

p.p.s. – Are you wondering why I write about the weather?  Because this is really good info for a garden journal and often times I refer back to my blog posts to see what happened in previous years or even just earlier in the season.  Hint: You might want to write about the weather in your area in your garden journal too. 😉

October 22, 2011

Acknowledging the inevitable

Today it finally hit me. It’s over. Summer is over. Fall is here and winter is on its heals.

You’d think I would have figured this out when the colors peaked a few weeks ago, but it was 85 degrees then.  It made it easy to deny the change in seasons.  Honestly, that whole thing, as much as I loved the continued warmth, kind of freaked me out.  It was creepy for a couple of reasons.  Partly because warm winds, shorts and fall color do not go hand-in-hand in Minnesota.  The other reason is that although Doctors couldn’t figure out what exactly I had when I was sick.  The first thing that came to mind when they would ask me when it all started was a memory of a warm windy day back in August of 2009 when I had a reunion with a bunch of my college girl friends and their families.  The same winds blew through then and I remember being chilled.  Granted I didn’t realize I was running a fever until weeks after that, but that windy day in August was what stood out in my mind.  So the warm, windy days a few weeks ago made me incredibly uncomfortable to say the least.  Much as I love a beautiful breeze, I’ve come to really dislike wind. If people could put up hackles, mine were definitely up.  When out in the wind I even envisioned putting up my arms in a defensive position to try to fend off catching something again.

Anyway, as I took one of the dogs for a walk early this morning, I stepped out the door to my favorite weather and my favorite season.  The frost on the leaves, flowers and grasses was stunning as it sparkled in the early morning sunlight. The air was so crisp and so refreshing.  Although the color is past peak a few trees are still hanging onto their leaves and I completely understand why, they’re just too beautiful to let go of.

While I took every ounce of it in as much as I could I still had mixed emotions.  The growing season is over.  Oh, there are still a few raspberries clinging to their canes, shrub roses continuing to bloom and ornamental grasses dancing in the breeze like ladies in ball gowns.

But as a gardener, its with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to another season that flew by way too fast.

So while I love fall and look forward to more crisp morning walks, you won’t catch me rolling out the red carpet for winter.  In fact, you just may see my hackles standing up again. (Hey, I said I was finally acknowledging the inevitable – NOT welcoming the inevitable!)

Kate