Just a dusting. Fat flakes drifted past windows through naked trees just after dawn, left nothing but a tentative frosting. Which instantly melted when the sun hit it. The ground was too warm. Winter has been gentle this year … so far.
Our nights have been chilly, sometimes cold, but most days have been unusually warm for this time of year.
Winter is usually about how many layers you need to wear. Which boots will keep your feet from freezing. Scarves and hats keep the frostbite at bay. How long it takes the car to warm before you can get heat. Remembering to not leave stuff in the car that might freeze.
So far, it has been mild. Mostly in the high 30s and low 40s in the daytime, in the 20s at night. For you west coasters, this really is mild for New England in December.
The wood steps to the deck are usually too treacherous to use throughout the winter, but so far, so good.
Garry takes weather personally. Cold makes him suffer. He’s a sunshine kind of guy. Both of us were raised in New York and landed here. In Massachusetts. It’s a love-hate thing. Love New England, wish the weather weren’t so harsh.
We feel weather in our bones these days. Human barometers. We are more accurate than the maps on the weather channel.
This warm spell is a treat, a special gift for our holiday season.
So … no snow now, but I we were lulled into a false sense of security last year … and look how that worked out! But, maybe we will have one of those rare snow-free winters.
Personally, I’m dreaming of a non-white Christmas!
A non-white Christmas works for me, even if I could bribe one of the boys down the street to shuffle the snow.
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Oh, we are SO with you! We’re still trying to find someone to come over and plow. Although I would prefer a snow free winter, I don’t think it’s something to count on.
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Rich, we’re watching enough Christmas movies to absorb the feeling without need of nature’s real thing.
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I don’t need it either. It will be warm here for Christmas.
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Very warm here too – we’ve been pretty much stuck at around 12-13 degrees C (low-mid 50s F) both day and night for weeks. Very windy and rainy, though!
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We’ve had some rain, which we badly need, and enough wind to knock small branches loose. But last December was like this and we got more than ten feel in February. I’m happy with no snow.
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This is just fine with me. I’m even making a “guest appearance” at church this morning and I’ll make sure my sentiments are registered with the proper authorities.
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In Finland, winter has been “warm”. Because our country is long, it means that half of Finland has snow cover. Here where I am now, we have snow. Happy Sunday!
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There’s already snow in northern New England. We are getting the effects of El Nino, a weather and wind pattern that sits off our west coast and changes weather patterns, making it warmer here, but colder elsewhere. If it stays the winter, we’ll have a warm, wet winter, but El Nino doesn’t always hang around all winter. It may very well break up by the end of this month.
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Splendid ! Has it happened ever ? Winters without snow….. Sweet dreams. I remember when I was young & never used a cap or scarf, then my mom used to scold me saying, today being young you won’t realize how cold it is but you will have joint pains in old age, so cover yourself. That time I didn’t realize the seriousness but today my bones feel the cold. Keep yourself warm and may you enjoy a non-white winters but yes I will miss those gorgeous pictures of snow.
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It was just like this a year ago. We didn’t have more than a flake or two until January 29 … when we got almost a meter overnight. After that, it just snowed relentlessly until the end of March. So while I’m glad to have no snow and warm air now, I know it doesn’t necessarily last. Today’s just the first real day of winter. Three full months to go! Maybe we won’t get any … but I’m not quite ready to do any predicting 🙂
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I remember one nearly snowless winter, maybe 15 or more years ago. I think it was clear ground until maybe march, and then we got a bit but nothing to get excited over. I like a little snow, the kind you can sweep off t he porch with a push broom. The plants need the cover, though, so I dont fuss too loudly. Up to a point…
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Yup, I remember. We were still living in Boston, so it was maybe 1999?
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oh me too- today in the 30’s seems so cold compared to 68 last Sunday- but I’ll take it over snow and 20’s!!
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I can’t believe Christmas day may be 60 degrees, but I sure don’t miss the shoveling and the clearing. 🙂
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Me neither. I remember being in NY in 1964. Both Christmas and New Year’s were referred to as “top down days.” Almost 70, the whole week. I guess there were more convertibles around back then.
I have to remind myself that this does NOT mean we won’t get buried in February. There’s a lot of winter remaining — and this is just the first day.
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our first ‘real’ snow (none of that fake stuff for us, nossir) of the year, maybe an inch. Just enough wind to whip it up into four foot snowbanks if it wants to. On the news it seems that I-89 is experiencing its first driving adventure of the winter, cars all over the roads, one stretch was closed for something like 6 hours while the cops and the wreckers et al untangled the messes…
We stay close to home, let them practice on someone else.
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Not here yet. So far, so good. That’s my mantra this year: SO FAR, SO GOOD!
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Oh, I’m with you, for sure. Let it not snow, let it not snow, let it not snow….!
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I think we can set that to music 🙂
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I’m with you. I have no desire to test the ability of my AWD vehicle. Santa can just put wheels on that sleigh.
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Don’t let it snow, don’t let it snow, don’t let it snow – Merry Christmas to everyone.
Leslie
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It may have just been a legend, but I heard once that our fascination with a “white Christmas” came from Victorian era England (Where most other current Xmas traditions originated with a lot of help from Mr. Dickens), and supposedly England was in the throes of a “mini Ice Age” during the mid 19th Century… so white Christmases were to be expected. I can only recall a few such white Christmases we ever had here, and it was always snowcover left over from a previous storm. I’m not sure it’s EVER snowed on Christmas Day in my lifetime. We did get e hell of a snow on December 24, 2002… the last Christmas Eve I ever had to work.
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I remember a few years — recently — when it snowed almost every day for weeks at a time, including around Christmas, so it was hard to remember when the snow began, ended, and the next one took over the honors. I’m just as happy with nice clear roads. The magic of snow has pretty much gone away for me.
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I have seen from a friend in Austria that they have no snow either and it is too warm for the snow machines – they live near ski fields. We are expecting a heatwave this week so I am out early this morning to take photos before the heat sets in. Though we are not as hot as Australia where is is definitely very, very hot.
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I’m glad it’s not hot here. For once, I’m entirely content with our weather. It’s seasonably and reasonably cold, but not bitterly so. The ground is dry. Let it NOT snow works for me too 🙂
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I love the photo.
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With or without frosting? I like them all, but I’m partial the snow photography … but not the snow. I think that’s one of the definitions of conflicted.
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Great pix, post and music too… I’m dreaming of a non-white Christmas too and it sounds like our dreams will come true. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ❤
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I always figure if at least it doesn’t start snowing until later in the year, it’s a shorter winter. Last year was brutal … but short. Maybe we can make it through February this time 🙂
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If one has beautifully branching trees, there’s ample dream space
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