The Bride and I spent the winter just outside of Richmond, Virginia, next to my #1 son and his family. It was good getting out of the frigid North Country conditions. As if I needed a reminder, during the three days I was at Miner Institute in January the morning temperature was -24F, -28F, and -26f. And yes, those are minus signs! I also had speaking engagements in Wisconsin a couple of times, Indiana, and into Pennsylvania and Western NY, in most cases with cold, snowy weather to greet me. Living in the “mid-South” in the winter isn’t all gravy; we arose one morning to +3F, but that was the coldest day by far and was accompanied by much complaining by year-round residents. We had one snow event, that one of only a few inches but it was enough to close schools for three days with a delayed opening the fourth day. They don’t plow side streets and since the school buses can’t get to the kids, there’s no school. But the weather in the days following the “big snow” typified weather in that part of the country. It was in the 30s on Monday, 40s Tuesday, 50s Wednesday, 60s Thursday, and 70s Friday and Saturday. I’ve never seen a snowman melt so quickly! By the weekend our granddaughters were in bathing suits and bare feet while there still was a snowball-size remainder of Mr. Snowman in the middle of the back yard. One nice thing about spending the winter down there is the knowledge that cold snaps are just that, fairly brief with warmer weather usually only a few days away. We never needed to put on our winter coats.
That said, it sure is nice to be back home in the North Country! The St. ice is still on the bay here in Oak Point, and Canada geese out at the edge of the ice set up a loud gabbling at night, more arriving each day. The main river is clear of ice, and the St. Lawrence Seaway will open next week–March 31st. Say what you will about the first robin; it won’t seem like spring here until we see the big ships on the river.