Winter is still coming.....

Contrary to the way things have looked lately, winter has NOT been canceled! We did get some snow yesterday. Not much, but it did turn the ground white. It was actually kind of pretty.

The weather reports are saying that we could have a "significant snow event" within the next few days. Not a blizzard, mind you, just enough to make things even more white and a bit messy till we get used to that white stuff on the ground again.

Whoopee.

Normally we have snow on the ground long before now. Often before Halloween, but this year is a bit different.

This has been such a weird year for weather. We had a ridiculously cold winter then a belated cool spring. Our summer was cool and rainy. In fact the first nine months of this year were below normal.

Then came a beautiful, warm September with temps we should have been getting a month earlier. It was fabulous! Even October was - for the most part - warmer than usual.

Okay, we did have that brief little snow cover over the Thanksgiving weekend. It didn't last more than a couple of days though. Thank goodness!!

Even November has been warmer than normal. A friend was even golfing last weekend. They didn't remember being out this late in the year before - at least not in this prairie berg!

We have been lulled into a false sense of everlasting fall. This certainly isn't the first year that snow has been late in arriving. It was mid December in 1971 before we got any snow that stayed.

Then came the last few days as the temps slowly slipped closer to the seasonal norms of -6C/21.2F for highs and -15C/5F for lows.

I've been wearing a light quilted jacket and light gloves for the last few weeks. I wore long johns for the first time last Wednesday morning. It was only about -8C but a cold north wind and I knew I'd be outside for awhile - both walking and waiting at bus stops. We had gotten a bit of rain overnight and in some areas that had left little patches of, or a light dusting of the white stuff on the ground. It was just enough to remind us that winter would be coming at any moment and to get us prepared for that time. It was also just enough to make patches of sidewalks, streets and parking lots slippery under foot. I wore my duck boots as they have a better grip than my runners and they are lined so they would keep my feet warmer.

I guess I have also been in some form of denial as I still hadn't packed away my summer jackets. I had moved most of my summer clothing to the back of the closet and put the warmer stuff up front back in mid October, but that was as far as I got. I finally packed the last of the summer wear away and pulled out all of my winter outerwear on Friday but haven't worn any of it it yet. I'm just getting prepared for the inevitable.

Some people are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit without any snow on the ground. They can't seem to separate the two. For them, if there isn't any snow, then how could Christmas possibly be less than four weeks away?

That wasn't an issue for me - I go by the calendar not the weather. My shopping is all done and wrapped. The cards are done and the baking is about 75% done. If I had the freezer space, it WOULD be done as well. I even have my decorations all up. I always put them up around US Thanksgiving.

The winter enthusiasts are chomping at the bit to get out the skis, snowshoes, skates, toboggans, snowmobiles and other wintertime toys and paraphernalia.

Me? Well, I've really enjoyed this seasonal delay. No heavy coats or bulky boots. No snowbanks, icy sidewalks or frozen appendages.

If it were up to me, it would snow on Christmas Eve and then melt on January 2 - but for some reason, Mother Nature doesn't give me a say in the matter.

Oh well, it has been nice while it lasted.....

dn