Wack Frost

Tonight, at 8:33 pm, my thermometer reads 29.8 degrees F, and that's up against the building. Tonight, all will be lost. Should it get down to 22 degrees, which is possible being below the 30 degree mark so early and with clear sky, we will remember why it is that we respect winter. This however, is not the story. Tonight, apparently, is a drop in the cold bucket compared to what is about to knock us off our fleece-footed indifference. It is being said that next Tuesday night, and you'll probably forget this by then, we should have temps nearing the single digits, at the very most the teens after a weekend storm which may or may not bring us some white. This is highly unusual for this time of the year, or any really, in NYC, but definitely unusual for pre-solstice.

courtesy Wunderground.com

This has been a stellar year for lake effect snows. Why does this matter, we've no lakes? Well, in less than two weeks, Betsy and I will be headed for Minnesota, where it is already 4.9 degrees F as I write this. Our route, driving with two shivering cats, cuts across the the lake effect zone, creating misery and tension for unseasoned winter drivers like myself. I've an exceptional record when it comes to spotting the break in the storm on satellite, for pushing ahead to miss the bulk of a coming snow storm, but there's no missing those long bands of lake effect, they go on and on and on. From the PA 'Wilds' to somewhere in Indiana, you never know what you're gonna get.

I took one last look at the flowers out there after I put out the recyclables. Smelled the roses. Picked up a potted annual, brought it inside. I thought of cutting the 'New Dawn' buds for the vase, but they're so high up and too thorny for night time acrobatics. Tomorrow morning, bust out the camera for some frosty rose petal pics. It's not all bad.