There are relatively few weeks of the year when it’s still relatively cool, and Upstate New York has the fresh color of spring.
Where one can see bright oranges, reds and yellows in the tulip beds.
Whites, Oranges, and Greens.
And while beautiful spring time weather will be replaced with summer weather within weeks, there is much to enjoy.
Spring is such an amazing season.
They say the darkest time of the night is just before dawn. The harshest part of winter is now upon us, the month of February. If there ever is a month of the year that is just nasty and terrible, it must be the month of February. This month is cold and wintry, following the previous two and half months of cold winter weather. It’s not fun.
February is the month when the cold breeze seems the coldest. It’s when the salt on the cars and the roads seems the harshest. It probably is not the harshest weather of the year, as already the days have gotten somewhat longer, and we are past the coldest days of the year, but it still seems like winter continues to have us in it’s fangs. Our heating bills will continue to be high.
February is going to be a tough month for all of us. Maybe Merle Haggard should have sung, If We Make It Through February. The only upside to this month is that once we make through February, it will be March which will eventually lead to a thawing out in April. The grass in April will be brown, and burn bans a-high, but then things will green up and the beauty of spring will return in May.
February is just a single month. It’s not the nicest month, but as all things come and go, it must come to a pass. Look at the upside — it’s the shortest month of the year! Maybe the Ground Hog this year, for the first time, will actually be right and say no to six more weeks of winter! Let’s make it through February and towards nicer weather in the spring.
The month of January is the coldest month of the year, if the thermometer is to be believed. It’s not the grayest or snowiest month of the year, or even the most harshest month of the year (a time reserved for February). While the days are slowly getting longer in January, the growth in daylight is small compared to months to come.
We will go out skiing and snowshoeing, spending time riding snowmobiles and enjoying nature’s gift of the snow. It won’t always be perfect weather, but like every season we must make the most of it. It’s winter, and it only lasts for about half of the year in New York State.
There will be days where we will go outside, and the mercury won’t even reach 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind is whipping down from the North. There will be days and weeks when the roads are covered with ice and snow. People will struggle to find parking spots in the city, as parking spots are replaced with ice covered patches and snow banks. Driving will only be nice this time of year, because the insides of cars will be toasty. It’s going to be very winter-like out there for the next month.
At the same time, there will be the much needed winter thaw. We might finally for a few days loose all of the snow, and it get up into the balmy 40 degrees range. Winter doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be supercold, and indeed, we must certainly will see a brief mud season during January for a couple of days when the sun makes us think of a false spring.
January is when we get over the Christmas Season high. The lights on the trees are taken off, the Christmas trees are dumped into the brush pile to be chipped sometime when spring comes in another five months. The colorful wrapping the presents have come in are now charred down to nothing but ash. New Years Eve celebrations are just a memory, as we wake up hung over on this first day of the year.
We will all promise ourselves to do better this year then last year. Whether or not we will live up to it in the new year, is a totally different thing. Maybe we will do good for this month of January, then fall down in subsequent months. Regardless, in many ways, January is a month of great hope that we can change and overcome our human fallacies. A benchmark, that is pretty meaningless, but one we must find ourselves embracing every year.
Today starts the month of December. It’s quite a remarkable thing because it seems like it just was November and then October with the beauty of all the fall colors. Hunting season has been under way for almost two weeks now, and Thanksgiving came and went so quickly.
It’s the month when we celebrate Christ’s birthday, and are overwhelmed by crass consumerism of the Christmas Season. For some it’s a time of meaningless giving, while for others it’s a true celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, a child whose much fabled birth would forever change history. We attend religious services and light candles to celebrate his birth.
It’s also time of celebration, with many special Christmas parties and family gatherings. We see the first snows of the year, as our families and friends come back together for fantastic meals and time for fellowship.
December is the final month of the year. It’s a time of looking back at the past year and all that has changed. Much has changed in the world around us, and we all have changed as individuals. We look forward to a new year and all that it will bring to our society.
They say that November is the greyest month of the year. It is the month that has the fewest sunny days of year, where clouds are the norm. November isn’t particularly rainy, but it sure feels cold at times. We might get some snow, but usually not much. What snow we do get usually disappears quickly.
It’s a month of many holidays and special events. It’s when election day comes, sometimes a big deal nationally, and sometimes just a time more for local campaigns. The politicians and their volunteers try to round up their supporters, and get them out to vote. Then everybody takes a big breath when all the politicking is over.
It’s the month that sees deer season, a big thing in our rural communities. Deer hunters look forward to the first day, when 47% of the take happens each year. It’s a time for communion in the woods and spending time out there hoping for the big bag.
Later in the month comes Thanksgiving, a time for family and food. Around that time the sometimes obnoxious Christmas seasons gets underway. Yet it’s an important time of tradition and reflecting on what has happened in past year and what we hope happens in the new one.
The leaves may be off the trees. It might be getting cold out there. Yet, there still is much to look forward to in the upcoming months.
Today is Labor Day, the day we celebrate the many works done by organised labor, from the great construction projects of our day, to the people who clean the floors in the offices, to the people who work at the grocery stores.
Most people either get Labor Day off as a paid holiday or are compensated extra for working on Labor Day. Regardless, it’s a day to celebrate their labor and to celebrate ours. We all do productive things to make our world a better place, even if we can’t always see the important role of our own person actions in the grand scheme of things.
The month of September is when the summer season officially winds down. It’s also when it starts getting a bit cooler and clearer our, and when we start seeing the first hints of fall’s beauty.
It’s the time of high-harvest and a closing out of summer. Kids go back to school this month, and young adults go back to college. Primary day comes and goes, political candidates focus on their general election.
Leaves start to fall. The humidity drops even faster. Some of the nicest weather of the entire year comes about. It promises to be a pleasurable time.