Wacky weather

Nature's Christmas tree

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  Mine was fine, too, thanks, once I finally got ready for it.  The snow the previous weekend hit at exactly the wrong time as far as Christmas preparations go.  So the weekend before the holiday was spent doing all the things that would normally take two weekends.  That made for a very hectic time, but it’s over now and winter life will soon return to normal.

The last snow melted in a December heat wave but was soon replaced by more yesterday.  The heat wave itself was interesting—record-setting heat for one day or perhaps one and a half days.  Then rain.  Now back to normal cold weather again. That one day of heat was enough to take December 2013 from the coldest on record to one that is thoroughly average over the past 70 years, if still below the range of the more recent averages.

The temperature on December 22 hit 70 degrees in Harrisburg, though at my cabin it was a good 5 degrees below that.   The Harrisburg high was more than 30 degrees above average and 5 degrees higher than the previous record.  Two days later the temperature was below normal again, and a day after that, the temperature was 52 degrees colder.  No wonder I have three different coats populating the backs of my kitchen chairs.

Baby Dog doesn't notice the weather too much, unless it's raining buckets (she doesn't like to get wet).  The chickens, on the other hand,  refuse to exit their coop if snow covers the ground.  They just don't like it. I don't like it when the ground is half-covered with ice and snow.  Either I want to wear my Yak-trax or leave them at home.  I can't easily put them on once I'm outside or in the middle of a walk. So it's all or nothing with them, and often it's icy or snowy around the cabin when it's clear beyond the edge of the forest. It's all much easier if the ground is completely snow-covered. Or not.