Pendulum Winter

Bee balm heads after snow

Pendulum Winter

            The weather this month has been like a pendulum, swinging back and forth from Almost Spring to Deep Winter.  Two weeks ago Wednesday the temps were in the low 40’s and I was outside in a sweatshirt, tidying my almost snowless garden.  The next day we got 5-6” of snow.  The day after that we had sleet and freezing rain and all was icy.  Most schools around the state were closed for two days in a row. 

Lilac twig coated in ice

             Last Tuesday, New Hampshire Primary Day, was grey, raw and cold, and only a couple of hardy souls were willing to stand outside the polls with signs.  Wednesday it was sunny and warm, but everyone was convinced that the snowstorm predicted for Thursday would close the schools again.  It wasn’t much of a snowstorm, an inch or two at the most of heavy, wet snow that was already melting.  But packed down it was very slippery, and I slithered and slid around the cars in the driveway while cleaning them off.  Thursday night the wind came up and temperatures dropped precipitously.  When I got home from work around 9:00pm it was already below 10° Fahrenheit.  Friday morning, when I went out to let Frank out of the driveway so he could go to work, it was only 7°.    The outside steps creaked and cracked under my feet.  Coming home that night I trod on one step that sounded like a gunshot underfoot.  6° Fahrenheit.

Goldfinches in the snow at the front yard feeder.

            Saturday was a beautiful day.  The sun was out, and the sky was a clear deep blue, that high noon blue that catches at your heart.  If there is a Heaven, that is what its daytime skies must look like.

            Tuesday it warmed up enough to snow, another 3 or 4 inches, but thankfully it stayed mostly snow.  We didn’t have as much of the sleet and freezing rain that was predicted to end the storm.  The wind came up in the afternoon and continued into the night, causing white-out conditions on the roads that weren’t buffered by trees.  The temperature dropped again yesterday, back down to 5° when I got home, and only 7° this morning. 

            When the weather swings back and forth like this it’s hard to know what to wear.  How can one predict in the morning what the temperature will be in the afternoon, or in the evening?  So I dress in layers, a turtleneck and a sweater.  I used to wear wool pullover sweaters, but those are harder to un-layer, and fill my hair with electricity, so I opt for cardigans nowadays.  My few remaining wool pullovers are ancient and cherished, and full of moth holes, but I refuse to give up on them.  It’s hard to find actual sheep’s wool sweaters these days I’ve discovered.  Why is that?  They all seem to be cotton, or cashmere, or synthetic.  Wool is best for New Hampshire winters.