Winter is on the way! The old man will arrive at 5:23 PM Eastern time on Friday. Well that is true if you follow the astronomical measurements. If you follow the Meteorological Seasons, winter runs from December 1 to February 28 (February 29 in a leap year). So the case could be made that winter is already here.
I can’t believe it! They have made the seasons complicated, just like everything else. Growing up we had but one system for the seasons, I had all the dates memorized, even when the date varied back and forth depending of the time the sun crossed the equator. I liked it that way; a little change was good for the soul. Now I have to be careful because the difference is almost a month between the two systems. Geesh! Oh yeah! There is the third season system. When one side of the flat earth flips from facing the sun and the other, has its time basking. Now before you start sending me cards and letters, I’m just kidding. Send them instead to Area 51!
I just came in from the mailbox where the latest Amazon delivery was left a short while ago. Wow! I stepped out of the shadows and into a bright sunlit day complete with blue skies overhead, a light breeze out of the north with gusts up to 8 MPH, and a temperature of 55 degrees. After the cold and rain we’ve had for the past few days, it was like stepping into heaven. My thought was that I could get used to this. I even stopped to take a picture of the sun peeking through the branches of the white pine in the front yard. That white pine was a live Christmas tree in the living room years ago. It sure has grown, standing next to the cedar tree that I rescued from the old WCOS tower field behind Providence Hospital, before the original WXRY-FM tower was erected. That tree was marked for cutting down because it was in the way of one of the guy wires that would hold it up. By the way, there is a huge Magnolia tree in the back yard that came from the same tower field.
As I stood there basking in the sunshine, thoughts of southern winters drifted through my memories. And I gave thanks that I live in a place that has four seasons yet has mild winters. We had a close call with snow last week when the snow coverage from that big storm came to about 90 miles from here. We don’t get snow every year but it does happen sometimes. In really bad years the ice storms come; paralyzing the city and knocking power out for folks in large swaths of destruction. It is not unusual for power to be out here for up to 5 days in bad ice storms. The last bad one happened here in 2004. Ironically I left the day it started on a business trip to Minneapolis. I saw temperatures there of – 30 degrees but had power the entire time. Back to Columbia and no power for three more days. With gas logs installed a couple of years ago and a new generator installed last month, I think we are ready for the next one that is long past due.
Pups checking out that strange white stuff on the deck after the 2010 snow. I’d much prefer the light fluffy snow we get most of the time we get winter precipitation. The perfect snowfall began late on a Friday evening on February 12, 2010. It ended just after the dawn of a crystal clear Saturday. Everyone had a great romp before my show on Our Generation Radio began at 10 AM. By the time the show was over at 1PM the snow had melted on the roadways and travel around the city was easy. There was not even a flicker on the power or internet connectivity that day. Perfect!!!
Blue skies and sunshine are the hallmark of southern winters. I really came to appreciate that during the time I was running projects all over the country. I remember catching planes in the sun on Sunday afternoons then transferring in Atlanta or Cincinnati to places like Ann Arbor, MI, Des Moines, IA or the metropolitan NYC area. It was always overcast at these destinations in the winter and I was so lucky to be able to escape back to the sunlight every Thursday to recharge my batteries before the next trip.
It was during this period that I began to appreciate “Southern Winters.” Some of my co-workers did not see much sun between the end of November and the middle to the end of April. And for some of them cabin fever set in hard. When one of my co-workers who lived in Edmonton, Alberta Canada retired, he moved to Costa Rica. I can definitely understand that. He plasters awesome pictures of kiteboarding and riding through the mountains on motorcycles all over Facebook, even one of his flip flop shod feet on a balcony bathed in a tropical sunset. He’s had enough of the snow and ice to last a lifetime. Me – I’m ready for a taste or two more, as long as they are not too bad.
The storm that just missed us last week was one of the earliest to bring snow to SC, even if it was just to the northwest corner of the state. It’s very unusual to have snow in the state in December. Late January and February is the sweet spot for winter weather around here. So this just may be the winter we get some. That’s cool, the gas logs and generator are all checked out and ready. Oh MY!
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