Sunday, December 2, 2012

Vermont in December

When I moved here I expected to live with the weather. Vermont is a ski area, we have a ridge of mountains and lots of resorts. That first Winter, 95-96, I parked my car in December and next saw it in April. In the early 2000s we had some huge snowfalls. One year, on both Christmas and New Year's Eve, we had massive snowstorms of 30" each. It was breathtaking and a huge hemorrhoid but par for the course.

And so I'm ready, come November, for the winds of Winter. Except these days it's not so much. Last year was a Winter that Wasn't. Tough on the tourist industry, which is  important. It's been chilly enough for the resorts to make snow lately, but we've had little of real cold. And it's December.

Yesterday it snowed. It lasted for the day on the grass. Overnight the temp rose and today has been in the 50s' F. It's all melted and then it rained for most of today. I had my back door open, it was so warm.

This year I hope we get a real Winter. Lots of snow. Very cold. Wind. People only go out if they must. You bake things to ward off the chilly willies. A regular-issued Vermont Winter. Mostly I want all that to happen so I feel some sort of reassurance that things are okay and haven't gone all changey already. Cuz it sure doesn't feel regular.

And if Santa's reading this, I'd really really like a White Christmas.

7 comments:

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Me, too, but I think you have a lot better chance of getting it than I do.

Elephant's Child said...

Me three, and I KNOW you have a better chance of having this wish filled than I do.

Anonymous said...

We had exactly the same, weather wise. We had some lovely snow sticking to trees, roofs and lawns and then overnight it rained and yesterday it was all gone. Very disappointing. We haven't had a true, old fashioned winter, in years.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

We had 4 inches of snow last week that I had shovel. It was wet and heavy and it was hard on my back. Towns close around us barely got an inch and just let the warm weather melt it. Ours did not completely disappear until yesterday when the temperature rose to the 60's. it was a beautiful scene when it was coming down, but the aftermath of road accidents and dirty piles of snow wasn't as pleasant.

There is no doubt about it, the weather is changing as the carbon levels rise.

sdt (a.k.a. stevil) said...

We both moved here in 1995, and in those days, every single Christmas was a white Christmas. I miss that, it was one of the things I liked about this place. Ah well.

Geo. said...

Wow, you get Santa AND snow? Here, we have snow only in the hills. Hill-people sneak into our valley each Christmas and make off with socks and coal we leave out for them. Santa tradition sounds more fun.

Austan said...

Susan- it's a gamble these days!

EC- I'd send you some snow if we had any!

Lawless- it really has been years now since things went as expected.

Arleen- be careful shoveling, missy, that can rack you up quick. And when did PA ever have snow before VT? Oh right, there's no such thing as Climate Change.

Stevil- same here, Bunky.

Geo.- California sounds like a very strange land...