In Minnesota we don’t need Punxsutawney Phil, the famous Pennsylvania groundhog, to tell us there will be six more weeks of winter. I just have to look out the window at the two feet of snow (61 cm) in my garden and a thermometer that says 13F (-10C) and know spring won’t be arriving any time soon. The spring equinox is in six weeks and even after a mild winter it is not unusual for there still to be plenty of snow on the ground at that time. This has not been a mild winter, in fact it has been the coldest winter we’ve had in 20+ years. Astonishingly, as cold as it has been, it doesn’t even make it into the top ten coldest.
But the sun is shining today in a clear blue winter sky and with all the snow on the ground it is ever so bright. It is even bright at night, “snow glow” Bookman and I call it.
Have you noticed the days are getting longer too? (Sorry southern hemisphere folk, your days are sadly growing shorter) It is still dark when I stand waiting for my bus at 6:30 in the morning but rosy-fingered Dawn is arriving just about the time I start my work day. And in the evenings, if it weren’t too cold to take my mittens off, I could comfortably read while waiting for my bus home.
I am tired of the cold, tired of taking ten minutes to bundle up to go outside and then ten minutes once back indoors to get all the gear off and back in its place on coat hooks and book rack. I am tired of wrapping my scarf around my face to protect my skin from frostbite and so I can breathe the frigid air without hurting my lungs. Tired of enduring. Because at this point, that’s what it has become, to me at least.
But the longer days have stirred the embers of hope that I won’t have to endure the cold so very much longer.
And then there are all the seeds that I ordered for the veggie garden that have arrived. I look at them and shake the packets now and then. For some reason I find this reassuring, proof that spring is on the way, that it isn’t a cruel joke. Don’t those packets look lovely? In among them is a big bag of white clover seed and 50 feet (15 m) of row cover fabric, my secret weapon against digging squirrels this year.And in the mail on Saturday came the save the date postcard for the big plant sale in May. The card always has a beautiful photo of a flower on it. This year it is the inside of a red hibiscus. The card is now stuck to the refrigerator with a magnet in a place where Bookman and I can see it while we eat our meals.
Spring might be six weeks or more away and there will still be plenty of sub-zero (-17C) mornings waiting for the bus, but the sun and the seeds tell me it will be here eventually. It will be gratefully welcomed.
Well, thanks, for thinking of us in the Southern Hemisphere, Miss Stefanie. We sure do appreciate it! Seriously though, I think our daughter is finding it almost unendurable and is planning a two week escape to SoCal in late February when she says she’s most at the end of her tether. And, she says she’ll be hope next Christmas. Meanwhile, we have booked our flights and will be in Toronto in latish April. I was horrified to discover that the average maximum in April is 11°C. I sure hope a cold winter doesn’t mean a cold spring!
I have mixed feelings about spring … I love the lengthening of the days, and the promise of things to come, but it is such a tease! A couple of warm days and the back to cold for many more days, and then a couple of warm days and then … but, eventually the warmth eh?
We have just had a record run of 6 consecutive days with temperatures 10°C above the average, i.e. all over 35°C. It’s hot – but at least it’s not humid. It is now nearly 11.30pm and the temp is 28°C.
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whisperinggums, you bet! 😉 It sounds like your daughter has a good escape plan. My mom in San Diego tells me it has been in the 80s (26C +) lately and they are hoping it cools off. They are having a major drought too. But as an escape for the winter weary, it will be lovely. Early spring is hard with the temperature swings and it is so ugly as the snow melts and everything is brown and muddy. March is typically our snowiest month but even when we get dumped on it isn’t so very bad because it won’t be around much longer. You are positively boiling right now! 28 at 11:30 pm? Yikes! At least it isn’t humid, but sitting in an oven isn’t pleasant either. I hope you get some relief from the heat soon!
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Some relief today in fact … Mid 20s is the forecast. I wrote my weekly letter to my SoCal friend on Sunday telling her of our dryness and in the letter I got from her yesterday, Monday, she spoke of theirs! She also spoke of the warmth … Being 50miles inland of the coast, a little warmer than your Mum. I LOVE San Diego … Perfect climate for me!
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mid 20s, that’s much better! Yes, the drought in CA is really bad. Farmers aren’t planting because they have no water to irrigate with. I expect produce prices will be going up here soon. My parents are about 15 miles inland from San Diego so they get a little warmer. I’m so used to Minnesota climate now that I can only visit them in winter because summer is so very hot to me and even then I get too hot because I feel comfortable but they feel cold so turn on the furnace!
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Oh dear … E are all so different in our climatic tolerances. Building managers can be driven crazy i think about workers complaining that the AC is too hot or too cold.
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Oh yes! At a previous job I was in charge of building operations which included heating/cooling and not a day went by without at least one person complaining!
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I bet! I worked in an area where the complaints were rife. I admired the patience of the poor Facilities people. They were saints!
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I went to college in Chicago. I remember hating February- it was often one of the coldest months, and I was just so tired of being cold by that point. I made grad school visits in February, and it is no surprise that I ended up out in California. I flew out to visit and it was warm!
It has cooled off in San Diego now- we’re in the low 60s. And it rained overnight! That is very exciting for us, because we are in the middle of a very, very bad drought.
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Tungsten Hippo, I have a friend who lives in Chicago. She doesn’t complain about it being so very cold in February, just about it being so ugly – dirty snow dirty roads, etc. Glad to hear you have cooled off and even got some rain. You need a lot more though. Hopefully you get it but not all at once!
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“But the sun is shining today in a clear blue winter sky and with all the snow on the ground it is ever so bright. It is even bright at night, “snow glow” Bookman and I call it.”
I’m relatively new to the “having four actual seasons” phenomenon, and every time it’s snowed I’ve noticed the “snow glow” without realizing what it was. Nice to know there’s a name for it!
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Rhiain, oh yes, the glow is really intense when the moon is full. It’s really beautiful once you realize you haven’t forgotten to turn off the porch light.
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Yay for seeds–a sign that spring isn’t quite SO far off! And I have noticed too the longer days–much appreciated. Now I can at least leave the gym in the light even though it is still dark after my bus ride. We are getting there….must try and stay optimistic since tomorrow it’s going to snow here! 🙂
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Danielle, spring isn’t quite in the air yet but you know it won;t be too much longer. Aren’t the longer days nice? Hope you don’t get too much snow today!
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Forgive our ignorance, but please what is Groundhog Day? And what is a Groundhog? Love from The (Perplexed) Bears.
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Alex, you might know groundhogs as woodchucks. And looking up information about them, it appears you do not have them in the UK! They are a type of marmot, I think you have those? But they are big and roly-poly and kind of cute. On Groundhog Day, always February 2nd, if the groundhog sticks it head out of its burrow and sees its shadow it means six more weeks of winter. If there is no shadow, it means an early spring. Totally scientific weather forecasting! 🙂
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Marmots??? I will go away and look them up.
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I never trust the Groundhog. If it brings good news, I’m bound to be disappointed. If it says winter will stay for a while longer, I knew that already. One thing I’m glad though, even if it’s deep winter here, we always get sun, well… most of the time. And just today, I saw a host (?) of Cedar Waxwings feasting on the fruits of our tree in the backyard. I’d taken a lot of photos since this morning.
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Arti, I never trust the groundhog either, it’s not his faulty though. I’m sure he’d like an early spring too. Yes, there is always the sun this time of year, it is small consolation.
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Ok, I will now stop complaining about what a cold winter we’ve had here in Texas! 😉 I don’t think I could live in such a cold place but remind me of this when I’m complaining of our 100+ temperatures for weeks on end. That’s exciting though that you have your seeds waiting for you. I’m sure you’ll have lots of great garden adventures to look forward to this spring!
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Iliana, LOL. There always comes a day in summer when it’s tropical humidity and 90-something that Bookman and I look at each other and say, “remind me how much I hate the heat come January.” Yup, the seeds are waiting and ready to go! And when spring finally does happen, it will happen so fast I will be caught off guard and scrambling for a few weeks to get everything planted. Fun times ahead! 🙂
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I join Alex in my total ignorance of groundhog (day or otherwise). We have had a very strangely warm winter over here, so your posts always make me shiver. Hopefully we won’t have a unseasonably cold spring to compensate. With such a big box you have a lot of work ahead of you!
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Smithereens, you might know a groundhog as a woodchuck. I don’t think you have them in France. Tradition has it that on Febraury 2nd if the groundhog sees his shadow it means six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow it means an early spring. The forecast is rarely accurate but we make a big deal of it anyway 🙂 I am very much looking forward to all the work in the garden those seeds will mean!
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This is the worst part of winter, when it’s become simply tedious. I’ve been eagerly watching the sunset come a little bit later every day. Can’t wait to get that light back – I feel so much more energised when the days are longer. And those spring seeds are a definite harbinger – remember how fast and furious they grew last year when the warm weather came?
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Litlove, I too feel more energized when the days are longer even when they are still really cold! Oh yes, I am going to spend weeks looking forward to spring and chomping at the bit to get out in the garden and, like always, it will suddenly be here and I will be running around like crazy trying to get get everything done in the garden and all the seeds planted!
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I love your seed packets! I have an event to plan for this fall (need to send you an email…) so my gardening needs to be upped a notch or two this year. Of course, i don’t have to endure months of sub-zero temps, but we are having a drought… Oh well. Hang in there!
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wherethereisjoy, I love the seed packets too especially the ones from Baker Creek that have illustrations on them. I am sure you will have your garden looking perfectly lovely come October, drought or not 🙂
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Your box of seeds cheers me up. I was obsessing too much in the planning stage and did not place my order until Friday. I’m already excited about reading your 2014 gardening posts Stefanie.
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Vanessa, I’m sure you will still have plenty of time between receiving your seeds and being able to plant them! I am currently anticipating the annual plant sale catalog. My list of plants to look for is growing long. The latest addition is asparagus!
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Yum! I love asparagus.
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