Countdown to Spring–Roarin’ All the Way

There’s a saying that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  March doesn’t always live up to that saying to its fullest potential, but this year, well …
In last week’s post, I remarked that Punxsutawney Phil was wrong in the prediction of there being six more weeks of winter.  With all the warm weather and quickly disappearing snow we were having, I couldn’t help but make the remark.  Never taunt the ground hog.

On March 2, after a day of 50-degree weather, but mostly cloudy skies and strangely increasing winds, we had a classic Nor’easter storm develop.  We were fortunate in that we had only a little bit of very soggy snow mixed in with rain.  North and west of the Mid-Hudson Valley, though, got slammed with 2-3 feet of snow.  The ski resorts were thrilled, I’m sure.  The rest of us, not so much.  Power outages were rampant with the high winds taking down branches and trees across power lines.  We were fortunate in that we only lost power for one hour.  As I type this, there are people who are just getting their power back on from last week’s storm and a few that still don’t have it.

Today brings another Nor’easter, only this time, my area won’t get off as easy in terms of the precipitation.  There was disagreement among the forecasting groups about last week’s storm as to what type of precipitation we were going to get.  Not this time.  Although they were differing slightly on the totals, they were all saying snow.  We presently have about 6” of very, very heavy snow.  Yes, this is the snow we used to make snowballs and snowmen out of when I was younger – solid, packable stuff.  You don’t want to shovel it, but you do want to play with it.  I’ll be doing the former tomorrow, taking my time with it clearing my deck and walkway.  I’m a fat, 60+ woman who doesn’t want to end up a winter statistic because she did too much too fast with this hefty, crappy white stuff, aka “heart attack” snow.

But on a positive note, in my walks of yesterday and today, I saw the red ends of tree branches that weren’t there last week.  Those trees are just itching to send out leaves.  I saw crocus, daffodil and snowdrop leaves coming up through grass and debris, all signs of flowers to follow in the not too distant future.  The pussy willow I pass everyday is just about in full furriness.  Well, today, those fuzzies are a little soggy, but they’ll recover.  I’m seeing more and more migrating birds return, although I haven’t seen any other robins than the one I mentioned last time.  Maybe they headed south again to places where the ground isn’t white.  With the migrators, there are more spring songs being heard, songs which will still be heard tomorrow as my area starts to shovel out from what we all hope is the last reminder of this winter season. 

The lion that brought in March will soon be tamed, and the happy playful lamb that signals March’s end will be here soon enough.

Only 13 days until spring.

Countdown to Spring - Priorities

Well, it's official.  I'm off from work on Tuesday.  Almost all the school districts in my area have closed in anticipation of our snowstorm tomorrow.  That wasn't a surprise.  What was a bit of a pleasant shock was the county executive closing county offices and ordering all non-emergency staff to stay home, with other local government offices following suit.  This is a rare decision, to be sure.  But, then, this storm event is worth the caution.

This is a classic nor'easter, creating blizzard conditions, snow totals of at least – AT LEAST – 12 inches, and winds 10-20 mph with gusts as high as 40 as the storm makes its way up the eastern seaboard.  Usually when these storms occur, northern and western parts of New York get spared significant snowfall.  Not this time.  They may not get the 12+ totals, but they'll still come close to having one foot of snow on the ground when it's all said and done.  Even places that don't normally see significant snow at all – Washington, DC, for example – will be digging out with the rest of us on Wednesday.  Yup, it's a biggie.

I'm as prepared as I'm going to be for this.  My kerosene heater and little generator are ready.  I put the plastic on the south side of my porch again.  It got blown off by the power killer cold front that passed through two Saturdays ago.  I put it back up to minimize the amount of shoveling I'd have to do of my porch just to open the front door.

I have adequate food, water, flashlights and batteries.  I also have chocolate, popcorn and videos.  Priorities.

I've covered as much of the patches of crocus and snowdrops as I could with containers weighted down just in case a gust of wind works to remove them.  I realize they've managed to survive torrential rain, high winds, single digit temperatures and deer invasion without help from me.  But a foot of snow is a bit much to endure and I'm not just talking the flowers survival, either.  I'm sure I'm going to need to see something other than white ground out there in the days ahead.

Again, priorities.

See y'all on the other side of this end-of-winter beastie.

Only 7 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring – The Short Blooming Season

The good news – we didn't get down into the single digits Saturday into Sunday as predicted, although we did manage to get down into the low 10s just before sunrise on Sunday and Monday.

The bad news – most of the snowdrops didn't survive the transition from balmy warmth to frigid chill.  Hard to say on the crocuses yet.  I'll know better tomorrow.  However, I think their demise had less to do with the weather and more to do with deer wanting a colorful salad last night.  I was hard-pressed to find any crocus buds this morning and there had been plenty ready to pop open Sunday before the temperature took its second nosedive.  Ah, well, critters gotta eat.  Thank goodness they don't like daffodils.

Only 14 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - But Wait, There's More

As we await the passage of a cold front which, after a lot of wind, a dowsing of rain and possibly even some thunder, temperatures will be returning to average for this time of year.  There goes that heating bill savings time.

That being said, I discovered my snowdrops are now up and starting to bloom, and the cream-colored crocuses are coming up along with what is now 20 purple crocuses.  Depending on how much rain we're supposed to get, I may cover the flowers until the downpour passes.  Crocuses and snowdrops do better with snow than they do with a deluge of rain.  They may be early, but I'd really like to enjoy the color for longer than the day or two they've been up.

Only 23 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - Well, It's Not the First Time

Many years ago, I planted a small patch of crocuses in a small rock crevice near the front of my house.  I planted light and dark purple, white, yellow and cream colored ones.  While the majority tend to bloom around the same time, the light purple ones have their own earlier timetable, opening their petals to the sun about a week or so before the rest.

Guess what was up this morning?

As I headed out to my car to go to work this morning, I looked down into that crevice and saw five purple crocuses which were maybe about a day from coming into bloom.  When I got home from work, the total was now ten.  Ten purple little buds ready to open up because it's been warm enough these last couple of weeks to wake them and convince them that it's time.

It's not the first time it's happened.  Since I planted this patch back in the 1990s, it's happened about three times, with one time when they were all in bloom and gorgeous in January.  There were also roses in bloom near the hospital in December where I worked at the time.  That was a very topsy-turvy winter temperature season.

My little purple crocuses might be in for a surprise come Sunday, when temperatures will drop back into a more normal range.  But they won't likely be shocked to the point of dying back, either.  Crocuses are a hardy breed of bloom.

And there's hope for a normal spring start yet.  My snowdrops are still snoozing.

Only 24 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring: A Desperate Need for Green

While the temperatures have remaining above freezing and the snow has been melting along nicely, the progress toward bare ground has been, well, glacial. Places which have been plowed, shoveled or sanded are happily down to earth-toned surfaces.  But in my area, there is at least another 6-8" of snowmelt which must occur before life underneath it gets full benefit of sunlight again, more where its been heaped up to clear roads and pathways.

A few weeks back, I shoveled out the area where my crocuses are and they appreciated the effort.  The leaves are up about an 2" since I cleared snow away enough for the sun to do the rest.  I probably won't see the flowers for another 1-2 weeks, but it's still earlier than it would have been previously, since that's where I tossed snow to dig out my car and driveway.

But it was not enough.  I have snowdrops in my yard which were still covered by snow and I wanted them to have the same opportunity that the crocuses did.   Hard to landmark things when it's all uniformly white and I couldn't quite remember where they were, anyway. So, I cleared a circle 15 feet in diameter in the area that I vaguely remember them being in last year.  As with the crocus patch, I cleared to the point where the sun and warm air could finish the job easily.

Today, there is a patch of brown and green where I shoveled, some of the green being snowdrop leaves, so mission accomplished.  The snow was crusty and heavy and my muscles and joints didn't and still don't appreciate this job that wasn't actually necessary.

But, my psyche does.  I'm looking forward to flowers in bloom, likely right around the first day of spring, in both spots as a result of my efforts.  It would have been only somewhat longer had I allowed natural melting to occur.  But, I needed some things that don't remind me of this dreary winter season.  The extra ibuprofen required was worth it.

Only 8 more days until spring.