{"id":36270,"date":"2026-03-10T05:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=36270"},"modified":"2026-03-09T21:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T01:21:52","slug":"ah-that-was-a-proper-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

So today it got up to 66\u03bf<\/sup>F and tonight it\u2019s only going to get down to 38\u03bf<\/sup>F.\u00a0 Tomorrow I\u2019m off from work and it\u2019s gonna be 67 \u03bf<\/sup>F and sunny all day, with no wind.\u00a0 So, tomorrow is the official first day of un-winter.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Life begins again.<\/p>\n

Except for the north side of the garage roof, all the roof snow is practically gone.\u00a0 And some areas of vegetation (mangled and brown) have reappeared behind the retreating snow.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The west field will be soggy for weeks while the snow retreats there last.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Last year that program provided a bonanza of berries and I intend to duplicate that procedure this spring.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

So, there is a plan going forward and plenty of work to do.\u00a0 But it\u2019s just so good to finally be freed from sitting around in the house staring out at a world of snow.\u00a0 They talk about cabin fever and I know exactly what they mean.\u00a0 It\u2019s a depressing, nervous state where you have to invent things to do to keep your mind off of your imprisonment.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time when you try to stick to exercise regimens just to avoid becoming a pile of mush over the inactivity of the winter.\u00a0 And the short days just makes it worse because darkness makes you sleepy.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019ll put all that behind me.\u00a0 Winter 2025\/2026 is officially dead and buried.\u00a0 Even if we have that stupid April Fools\u2019 Day nor\u2019easter this year, it\u2019s just there to provide \u201cpoor man\u2019s fertilizer\u201d for the vegetation.\u00a0 I predict 2026 will be a very productive year with interesting scientific and technological news and improvements on the economic front.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Like some Shire gaffer, in the future you\u2019ll see me eating a cheeseburger smothered in onions and relish and here me declare, \u201cAh, that was a proper 2026!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So today it got up to 66\u03bfF and tonight it\u2019s only going to get down to 38\u03bfF.\u00a0 Tomorrow I\u2019m off from work and it\u2019s gonna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3366,1263],"tags":[3341,164,340],"class_list":["post-36270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-life-in-dunwich","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-dunwich","tag-new-england-spring","tag-new-england-winter"],"yoast_head":"\nAh, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So today it got up to 66\u03bfF and tonight it\u2019s only going to get down to 38\u03bfF.\u00a0 Tomorrow I\u2019m off from work and it\u2019s gonna\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":8,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dunwich\",\"New England Spring\",\"New England Winter\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Current Events\",\"Life in Dunwich\",\"photog's Corner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"So today it got up to 66\u03bfF and tonight it\u2019s only going to get down to 38\u03bfF.\u00a0 Tomorrow I\u2019m off from work and it\u2019s gonna","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00","author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026","datePublished":"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/"},"wordCount":526,"commentCount":8,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Dunwich","New England Spring","New England Winter"],"articleSection":["Current Events","Life in Dunwich","photog's Corner"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/","name":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026 - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-10T09:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T01:21:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/ah-that-was-a-proper-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ah, That Was a Proper 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36271,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36270\/revisions\/36271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}