Someone trounced on Mother Nature’s toes … big time! You know who you are, so please apologize. We cannot blame this snow event on Old Man Winter, because, as you know, Winter does not arrive for another 40 days … on the calendar anyway. Besides, last week I saw a Tweet that said it may not be politically correct to blame bad Winter weather on Old Man Winter, because Winter should not have a gender. Yes, I was shaking my head too.
So you’ll pardon my pun, when I say this is how it shakes out for Southeast Michigan and countless cities across the nation today.
Mother Nature has her snow machine cranked up, doesn’t she?
When seasons collide.
Last week I posted pictures of the pretty snow on the pumpkins and leaves –it was easy to ooh and aah over those frosty crystals plopped on the brilliant red leaves because …
… happily, that snow melted a few hours later and we had a clear, but very chilly Friday and Saturday and today was gorgeous and felt tropical after the weekend’s cold and blustery weather. So, I savored every step I took, knowing today’s 3-5 inch snow event and the Arctic Blast that arrives tomorrow, might mess up walking for awhile. Sunday I put seven miles on the pedometer between walking at two different parks and raking leaves. I still need to walk 115 miles/185 kilometers to reach my year-end goal.
There simply is no rhyme or reason to this season.
We went from lawn mowing, to leaf blowing and snow blowing in the course of a few days’ time. Yesterday, while I scrambled to rake leaves in advance of the impending snow, I heard the drone of lawn mowers and leaf blowers … or perhaps it was homeowners tuning up their snow blowers?
I want to stand here and shake my fist at Mother Nature, though I know it would not do me a bit of good, except letting off a little steam and that would only fog up my eyeglasses.
Thus, the walking will come to a grinding halt today, probably the next few days, but there will be minimal worries about the flurries – for the short term anyway, because I will shovel the sidewalks, driveway and porch, secure in the knowledge that my pedometer is tallying up each step that I will take.
My furry and feathered friends at Council Point Park are stomping their feet too … I hope they don’t know about my “secret” porch pals, who, like their Park counterparts, have been getting extra peanuts to tide them over while the snow messes up everyone’s routine. Anyone want to help me set up a pneumatic tube that goes from my house to Council Point Park? It’s just one mile away. I know Parker could monitor it and retrieve peanuts at the other end … he’s a smart little squirrel.
Back in the day, the seasons slowly morphed into one another, gentle and easy. We had time to get acclimated to the colder weather, as we would first add a fuzzy headband to cover our ears, then move on to a wool cap (toque for my Canadian friends). Gradually a scarf was introduced into the mix. Light gloves became polar fleece mittens and so on and so forth. Guess those days are long gone.
I will now publish this post, drag out the boots, dust off my shovel, suit up and head out – so far Mother Nature has not inflicted too much damage out there; it looks like later today is when the most snow arrives, so how many days ‘til Spring?
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
How many days until spring indeed? Two weeks ago we were sweltering at the Marine Corps Marathon when the temperature got up in the 80s. This week we froze before our trail race in PA when the temperature was 19. At least there has not been any snow yet. Maybe I better not say that too loudly! I think we often get your weather a few days after you do. I am looking forward to our Arizona trip for Thanksgiving. It should be swimming pool weather there.
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Ah, Arizona sounds wonderful Laurie! The weather makes no sense anywhere across the U.S. right now. Even Dallas was going to be around 20 tonight. I froze Friday and Saturday (“real feel” of 18 degrees) and yesterday didn’t even need gloves to take photos. The weatherman says the snow was an “overachiever” as we surpassed the predicted snowfall amount hours ago. We have had half a foot and may reach 7 inches before it is over breaking the 1971 record. It was extremely heavy snow – I shoveled this morning and there was about two inches – my neighbor shoveled the rest tonight when he did his. I was grateful for that as it was so heavy.
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Ugh! 7 inches of snow in November??? My son in Colorado told me that they surpassed the record for snow in October for their area. Winter begins so early in the mountains! I would not mind a winter without the white stuff. Thank goodness for kind neighbors!
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We smashed records yesterday for snow fall (we ended up getting not just 7 inches, but 8.8 inches was the official total for here in my city) and it was larger amounts than predicted all over Michigan. Today is it all the about the cold – very cold today and tonight overnight it will be 6 degrees (with a “real feel” of -1). So we will break records then as well. Just amazing and more snow Wednesday into Thursday. I had lots of layers on, so did not feel the cold when I shoveled this morning – it snowed another 2 inches after he shoveled. The first year of my walking regimen (2011-2012) we had very few snow events and I was able to walk almost every day the entire Winter – it was great not losing momentum in the Winter.
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It seems that winter just plops in whenever it wants rather than checking the calendar. We are predicted to have a bitter cold week but some flurries but nothing measurable. It’s a bit early but it certainly keeps in line with the wonky weather we had all summer. I’m sure your squirrels will be ok. Animals seem to have a 6th sense about weather and prepare. Today, the last of the mild days, we will take in the hoses and cover the patio furniture. Then we start counting down the days until spring.
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That sure is true Kate and they predicted 3-5 inches of snow for us; as of now we have 6 inches and it is still snowing and expecting another inch. This was very heavy snow today.
We have broken the 1971 record – the cold arrives tomorrow. Not looking forward to that either. Tonight the lights were flickering – likely snow on the wires – not a great time to lose power either. I have been feeding them extra as they are no longer burying the peanuts, just eating them – I hope they were not looking for any this morning, from walkers or accessing their hiding places due to the snow and likely near-frozen ground. They are chubby – I took some photos of them the last few days; they now have their fat layer for the long Winter ahead.
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We are going grocery shopping one day early because snow is forecast for tomorrow. I’m positive it won’t snow if we plan to be at home tomorrow. Don’t forget that shoveling snow is good exercise. That’s the voice of personal history speaking.
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That is a Murphy’s Law for sure. I did errands last week and am sure glad I did. I topped off the gas, so if I can’t get out for a while, it is fine in the garage or even running it up/down the driveway. Weatherman said our snow “overachieved” so we got 6 inches (instead of 3-5) and it is still snowing. Our snow was very heavy – I shoveled two inches this morning and it was slushy and I ended up pushing it rather than hefting it. I was lucky my neighbor’s son did it when he came home from work. I have to do the backyard patio and sidewalk but will wait until it is warmer on Thursday and melts a little. We are in the deep freeze, the next two days. I don’t mind shoveling if it is powdery, but I hate dealing with the snow at the end of the driveway when the plow comes by. One year, the plow came by after I was in the house – then we had freezing rain and it froze on this big, high pile of snow all across the driveway. That was in mid-January and we had a Polar Vortex that froze it solid and no amount of ice-melt or chipping away would get rid of it. It was mid-March before I could take the car out of the driveway – unbelievable!
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That was a long stretch to be frozen in the driveway. Once the snowplow closed our street by plowing it shut. I don’t think it was an accident, but we never found out what was behind that action.
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Wow – yes, someone had a beef with you. I always do my grocery/pantry shopping in the Fall so I was fine with groceries – I went with Marge a few times as she went grocery shopping several times a week and rode along with her, just for greens for my canary. It was a bad Winter and I think we are in for the same this year.
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I can’t like this comment! I can only hope your winter will be easier than expected.
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I don’t blame you Anne – I am amazed we got so much snow and now are in the deep freeze – six inches when I went to bed, another inch afterward and a “real feel” in the teens right now. We are going to 6 degrees overnight with a real feel of -1 (not a typo!!) I hope the snow plow didn’t come by – can’t tell as of now. I’m aggravated by this snow’s early arrival as we just got the benefit of the time change so I would have had extra miles to walk. Can’t dwell on it I guess – northern Michigan got a foot of snow, but that’s no big deal for them. I hope you thwarted your own snow’s arrival by going grocery shopping yesterday. 🙂
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I think the snow has stopped. We have a dusting, but our forecast is for 9 degrees tonight.
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Wow – we are still having this 6 degrees with a “real feel” of -1 and I was hoping it might be an error, but nope … going to leave the water as a trickle tonight to keep the pipes warm at all faucets against the wall. Our official snowfall was 8.8 inches!
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You had real snow! Ours has evaporated. We’ll leave our faucets on tonight, too.
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Your snow as like ours last Thursday morning – it evaporated too within a few hours, but this – just incredible isn’t it! It will start to moderate this Thursday, back to 32 degrees again.
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It’s still sunny here, but rain is on the way. Your snow event does not sound appealing to me at all. It does however look beautiful if you don’t need to get around in it! Hopefully it will melt away and warm up a bit for you!
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Hi Sabine – I don’t think the sun came out today, just Mother Nature’s snow machines. We broke the old record set in 1971 on this date and we have had 6 inches of heavy snow and another inch to come. The weatherman said the snow as an “overachiever”. 🙂 After tomorrow and Wednesday with temps in the teens, it moderates a little for Thursday but more snow. This is a fluke. We usually are in the 50s and no snow til December.
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Miss linda……………………………..yes I did all of the rest of the winter duties this morning…………….shovel, salt, snow scraper, long boots, scarf, long underwear………………………so now that I’m prepared i predict it gets warmer by Thanksgiving……………………..
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Last night before I went to bed, I thought “oh no – Ann Marie has to drive in this mess tomorrow” and hopefully we don’t start an all-Winter/every Monday issue for when you go downtown. Was it last year or the year before that you had snow almost every Monday?
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Way too long until spring!! Cool pictures… when is parker posting next??
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Glad you liked them Ellie – I took a lot of pictures just before this weekend and I will be featuring Parker all on his own in the next 2-3 weeks. 🙂
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🙂
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Oh but it was so beautiful! There is nothing more beautiful than that first snowfall. Our birdfeeder was all covered with snow so the birds lined up in our window and pecked on the glass!
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Yes, I will say it was beautiful and I would have taken some more pictures had the snow fallen overnight, but it was continuing to fall through the day and the front screen door was all fogged up so I didn’t take any.
With yesterday’s blustery winds, the leaves are all over the snow and the snow is now dirty – not a nice picture. That’s funny with the birds – the outside critters, when they get a food source, never let it go. They were annoyed you did not clean off their feeder! Funny! The squirrels and birds that I give peanuts to on the front porch were gathered around on their perches waiting for me to clean off the porch yesterday morning- I am sure they were annoyed with me for taking so long! 🙂
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Lol
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We’re complaining of the rain and you give me this. I need to stop talking.
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When it comes to the weather, I believe we are all malcontents – they are shivering in Dallas these days!
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Hope the snow does not hamper things too much for you. I can sense tte countdown to spring cannot come quick enough for you ❤
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You are right about that Zena – last year for Winter 2018-2019, our Winter lasted way into Spring … I thought we’d never shake it free and then the rains started – I could not imagine how much rain was in those clouds, with day after day of rain … people said “we suffered through Winter’s cold, snow and ice for this?”
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Beautiful photos, with the dark red leaves and snow.
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Thank you Sandra. I really like how the snow makes the wet leaves look such a deep red. We had a small snowfall of just an inch of snow fall overnight in the Fall of 2018. I had not pruned my rose bushes for Winter and came out in the morning to see the buds dripping and frozen and covered with snow – it was gorgeous.
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