So today it got up to 66οF and tonight it’s only going to get down to 38οF. Tomorrow I’m off from work and it’s gonna be 67 οF and sunny all day, with no wind. So, tomorrow is the official first day of un-winter. Camera Girl and I will officially get up a half hour later, eat a leisurely breakfast, stroll around the devastated grounds and then go for a ride and walk around a lake, take a few photographs then go into town and have something special for lunch; maybe Chinese or Thai. Life begins again.
Except for the north side of the garage roof, all the roof snow is practically gone. And some areas of vegetation (mangled and brown) have reappeared behind the retreating snow. Obviously, the absurdly high piles of snow I created over the course of the last few weeks will be there well into April (and in places into May) but those will just be there as a cautionary tale about the folly of living in New England.
The west field will be soggy for weeks while the snow retreats there last. But within a week or two I intend to go there and cut down all of the raspberry canes and spread fertilizer on that bed. Last year that program provided a bonanza of berries and I intend to duplicate that procedure this spring. But the truly awful production we got out of the squash, eggplants and cucumbers over there has convinced me to move all of these beds to the south field. I’m going to dig up a good chunk of lawn over there and plant vegetables and transplant some flowers that have languished too close to the forest shade.
So, there is a plan going forward and plenty of work to do. But it’s just so good to finally be freed from sitting around in the house staring out at a world of snow. They talk about cabin fever and I know exactly what they mean. It’s a depressing, nervous state where you have to invent things to do to keep your mind off of your imprisonment. It’s a time when you try to stick to exercise regimens just to avoid becoming a pile of mush over the inactivity of the winter. And the short days just makes it worse because darkness makes you sleepy.
Okay, I’ll put all that behind me. Winter 2025/2026 is officially dead and buried. Even if we have that stupid April Fools’ Day nor’easter this year, it’s just there to provide “poor man’s fertilizer” for the vegetation. I predict 2026 will be a very productive year with interesting scientific and technological news and improvements on the economic front. But most important I predict that summer 2026 will provide the most memorable cookouts, barbecues and grilling that will be talked about for the next decade and will become a byword for successful outdoor parties. Like some Shire gaffer, in the future you’ll see me eating a cheeseburger smothered in onions and relish and here me declare, “Ah, that was a proper 2026!”
I think here in the eastern part of the state we actually got more snow than the westerners as the paths of the big storms were more coastal. And South Shore got more than North Shore again due to the vagaries of the storm tracks. The thing that meant we stayed snow covered was the brutal cold in February. we had almost 3 weeks of highs in the 20’s and overnight temps in the low teens/ high single digits ( Fahrenheit, of course 🙂 ). The 2.5′ of snow cover is now greatly reduced and bare ground is peaking out… Read more »
I think part of the “charm” this year was that my stamina isn’t what it was ten years ago. I had to wear more layers to be comfortable in the very low temperatures.
So that’s how to make a degree symbol. 451°
We know your type!
It’s difficult to not, well, gloat is too strong a word. Maybe a very small touch of schadenfreude. Problem being that in 5 months I’ll be suffocating in a scorching dripping humid hell and I’d prefer that you not be bouncing around laughing and going “neener-neener-neener” at me.
There is a symbol set on Microsoft word and that small circle was included. Then I set it as a superscript and that come out more or less looking like a degree symbol. The only place I know of with a close to perfect climate is Hawaii. I had a friend who moved out there 35-40 years ago and I swear he looks thirty years younger than his chronological age. Of course he’s also not married so there is that.
My BIL and sister were both in the Navy and stationed in Hawaii when they met and married. My BIL flew helicopters and got a good prime land side posting after all those fleet deployments, mostly on aircraft carriers, doing endless circles around the carrier anytime flight ops were going. Not to mention the tours teaching student pilots. That had to be fun. They loved Hawaii, needed no heat, no AC, just perfect all year round. They eventually ended up near Pensacola where they retired out. That resulted in me being here after I started having panic attacks in my… Read more »
Tom, I wonder if Hawaii would be too isolated for me. The weather sounds incredible but the culture might be too insular for me. As far as traffic jams. I no longer want to go into New York City traffic anymore. The roads are ridiculously pot-holed and the drivers are lunatics. As far as fear of water and heights we’re all different. I once took Camera Girl on a sky lift in the summer to see the top of a mountain and she was terrified of being so high above the ground. So we had to walk down the mountain.
Spring has sprung in South Carolina. Several trees, cherry , I think, are fully blossomed out, and the POLLEN is everywhere. In the morning my car looks like some kid clapped a weeks worth of erasers over it. I mowed my lawn Sunday and the front of the mower looks like it did pitched battle with a can of talcum powder
Well we took a walk at the local park near a lake. The lake is still frozen over but walking around for an hour in mid-sixties temperatures with full sun felt like paradise. With the snow retreating I can see the tunnels the voles dug in order to travel around under the snow to eat the roots of my plants all winter long. The circle of life!