There was still snow on the back deck earlier today. It's gone. And from where I'm sitting, the snows are gone from the property, save for a little ridge leftover from the bit of scooping Mrs. Dr. Phil did the other day.
Funny. Over The River And Through The Woods shows up as a Christmas carol. But I tend to think of it as much as a Thanksgiving song as Christmas. The sort of Courier & Ives New England Thanksgiving with ice and snow.
Late fall and winter in Greensboro NC is a season of mud. Cold rain and mud. In Medina, sandwiched between the lake effect snow belts of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, Thanksgiving was a mixed bag. Sometimes snowy, sometimes brown and rainy. Same as White Plains NY, 27 miles north of New York City.
Hell, once in the U.P. we had a Thanksgiving with the temperature near 80°F! Windy, too. Warm winds in Laurium in late November? One more data point to demonstrate that weather and climate are not the same thing.
As much as I like snow, there is something peaceful in a brown, rainy Thanksgiving -- or in this case an early December. In a way it's a counterpoint to the brown muds of early spring. One represents the shutting down of nature, the other the restart/rebirth.
I've a friend from WOTF XXIV Down Under in Perth. There they are heading into summer. Warm days on the beach looking at the Indian Ocean. I have only travelled a small part of this planet. But I do know that I am built for seasons. Seasons with variety. As much as I love Autumn... And Winter... I get renewed with the breaths and sounds of Spring. And Summers, when I am allowed to have them (grin), are pleasant.
Need. Variety.
I feel sorry for people in tropical climes with minimal variations. I'll take the rains in December.
Even if I am not out in them. (amused-grin)
Dr. Phil
UPDATE: By 5:30pm, it was up to 50°F. And 10:30? 54°F. And in two days it won't get out of the 20s.
