Sunday, March 16, 2014

Cruel Joke or Glimmer of Spring?

In Vermont the spring forecasts (aka March and April) put us on a roller coaster of emotion and longing. About one year ago (March 13, 2013 to be exact), my Facebook friends were complaining about the snow showers falling from the sky. My son and I went outside and found crocuses popping up from the ground. "Despite the snow flurries spring is on its way!" I posted in response to their seasonal sadness. 


This year everyone was howling about snowstorm "Vulcan" and the feet of snow that it dropped on our region last week--the same week as last year's crocus photo sadly. Spring will definitely be later this year. Not only is there tons of snow, but the daily temperatures are significantly colder then we normally expect for this time of year. This morning as my husband went outside to feed the chickens it was 2° below zero, Fahrenheit! He also saw that yesterday was the coldest St. Patrick's Day since 1885.

The first day of spring is Thursday, March 20th. Tomorrow!? I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Towards the end of this long and trying winter, I take heart in those days where we do get some (relative) warmth. This past Saturday it was 42° and we actually got to go outside and play without worrying about windchill factor and temperatures too cold for little ones.


We threw snowballs, made a snowman, snow angels, went sledding, and climbing on the giant snowhill at the end of our driveway. We were outside for a good half hour at least.




The sap was running again finally, and the snow was getting wet and slushy. We could've stayed out even longer except that our clothes were getting soaked.


The forecast for this week certainly started out rough, but it is starting to look a little better-- more like what it should be. Maybe the first day of spring tomorrow won't be so painful or depressing after all. Maybe, just maybe, spring really is on its way. I won't hold my breath until I see that first crocus though.

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