Mar 11 2017

Whether

Published by at 12:29 pm under Country Life,Garden,Weather

“I’m the Whether Man, not the Weather Man, for after all it’s more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be.” — The Whether Man, “The Phantom Tollbooth”

Well, our whether has varied widely over the past week.

Last weekend, it hailed up a storm – about half a dozen of them on the same day. Inside the house, the light had that eerie whiteness I associate with snowfalls back east, and I had the heater on all day (despite the horror of the $355 bill to fill the propane tank just days before). The cats were fascinated by the sound of it against the roof/walls, and I was fascinated by the look of it against the glass ceiling of the back “porch”:

dusting the scenic path to the compost pile:

and piled up in the potted plants by the side of the house:

It was almost as exciting as when it snowed a few years ago. When I went to bed that night, it was still piled up in the terra cotta pot.

Whereas this weekend, I have all the doors open in my little house and the sun is shining. The cats are scarce. I did a cursory inspection of the garden, and both the orchids and the tulips are budding, but not in bloom. Once again my tulip efforts can be rated a fail. I promise myself that I will plant them again in November to get flowers in February. Usually the orchids start blooming in February, so I have no idea why they are such slackers. Same goes for the camellias, which have steadfastly refused to bloom at all.

I will enjoy the sunshine and the break from the seemingly endless rain and try not to think about the horror of the time change. It was nice driving to work in the light while it lasted.

A YEAR AGO: A delightful bee-themed event at my friend Monica’s delightful shop.

FIVE YEARS AGO: A delightful visit from my friend and neighbor, Jim.

3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Whether”

  1. Guyon 11 Mar 2017 at 4:39 pm

    Well my dear friend, I know how difficult you are finding the weather around your area but I have to tell I would take your kind of weather and exchange it with ours. Today and tomorrow we are at a 80 year record cold, it was minus 28 all day today and no change for tomorrow. Like i said we have not seen this in 80 years even before we started to keep records.

  2. Suzyon 12 Mar 2017 at 6:19 am

    Wow, that is crazy! I hope spring finds you soon. Stay warm!

  3. Joy Fielderon 20 Mar 2017 at 12:15 pm

    Yep! We wouldn’t mind your weather Suzy. It has been so very cold this winter – bitter winds and frigid temperatures.
    But…..I did see my first Robin yesterday and my first Redwing Blackbird today – so there is hope that Spring is on its way.