Snowless Winter

So we have no snow.  I mean NO snow—not a bit of it.  Here we are in upstate New York looking out our windows at dried grass.  It’s unbelievable.  We usually head into the winter season with a bit of trepidation.  How long will winter last?  How much snow will we have to deal with?  How many storms will we have to suffer through?  Are the shovels in good shape?  Should we give in and buy a snowblower?  Should we cover the bushes so they don’t get smashed by the snow from the neighbor’s snowblower? (Like the poor little lilacs did last year.)  But, I repeat—we have no snow.  Even if we got clobbered now—it can’t possibly be a bad winter.  It’s February 8^th, for Pete’s sake! 

There have been no days when you wake up, look out the window and see several inches of snow coating the trees, yards, cars, and driveways.  The usual winter snow removal noises are absent also.  No plows roaring up and down the streets, no scraping shovels, no small-engine machines whirring away, throwing arcs of snow high into the air.  No sound of neighbors’ voices shouting things like, “Hey, how ‘bout all this snow?  I’m sick of it—we’ve had enough!” 

 

Before you know it, the spring bulbs will have pushed their way up out of the earth and the trees will start budding.  The grass will go from tan to green and winter will be officially over. 

There is a down side to this moderate and mostly snow-free winter, however.   The bugs may be ferocious this spring and summer and there might be more plant diseases wreaking havoc in our gardens.  Those things aren’t good.  But on the other hand, it’s been of great comfort to walk confidently down the driveway with no fear of slipping on the snow and ice and breaking an arm or some other body part! Yeah, it's been a great snowless winter.

This is what winter looked like from a back window LAST year.