I have written often of how “different” the weather is up here in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire. I still get that “I just can’t believe it” insinuations when I am trying to describe our weather to friends across the ‘states (especially Southern) and the Globe.
Mark Twain said about the weather in New England, “If you don’t like the weather, give it ten minutes. It’ll change.” Mark Twain was right, you know. Of course, I try to use a Mark Twain quote whenever I can, especially after visiting his home in Hartford (I actually hosted a series of meetings there), and saw his beautiful billiard table … in the room where he did so much of his writing, scattering the pages across the table … Proving that to be a great American writer … you need a billiard table … Carol is close to accepting this, and I don’t miss an opportunity to use this example …
Anyway, Mark Twain was as right about his thoughts on the weather in New England, as he was about his choice of furnishings…
On Thursday morning (and Wednesday), it was 12 degrees up here. This morning … Friday morning … this Good Friday before Easter Sunday … it was 50 degrees … I’m sorry, but, when I saw the temperature this morning, the first thought I had was, “You know what that means. A snow storm is coming.”
Well, when I got home from School this afternoon … I was late because I had to pick up some wood heat pellets for our pellet shove … After using 7 (seven) tons of pellets so far … we ran out of our supply, so we are doing the annual “12 bags at a time until June thing” … it was 62 degrees on the front porch. And … And … And … It was sunny!!!
Guess what that means?
I bet Mark Twain was a great pool player…
That’s right … let’s look at the forecast for this, what is considered to be the first real weekend of Spring:
This is a real “copy and paste” from the Weather Channel’s Online Forecast:
TONIGHT
37°
Rain/Snow Late
100%
Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies with a mixture of rain and
snow developing overnight. Low 37F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 100%.
How about tomorrow, Saturday, April 4 … I mean … after the sun comes up:
SATURDAY
38°
Rain/Snow
100% 1-3 in
SATURDAY
Cloudy with rain and snow in the morning. Snow showers in the afternoon. Morning high of
38F with temps falling to near freezing. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precip 100%.
1 to 3 inches of snow expected.
OK … just one more peek ahead … How about Saturday night: I mean, the NCAAs are on… I mean … the Masters start the practice rounds on Monday … I think baseball season (remember that?) starts on Sunday….
SAT NIGHT
18°
A few clouds. Flurries or snow showers possible late. Low 18F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Hey-Great! I was wondering when the high winds would start!
Anyway … just to get that “so, we don’t have it as bad as a lot of other people” feeling, I decided to check on the weather in Minneapolis, MN … that should get me to feeling better …
“Mostly sunny and 56 degrees” tomorrow …
OK … one more … Guess what? We will be traveling to Connecticut and then Rhode Island tomorrow, so we won’t be here!!! Yes … this is always dependent upon if we can actually
make it out of here …
Allow me to mention an Easter Sunday a few years ago, when we went the same route, down to Connecticut… When we left on Saturday morning … it was snowing here … but, not too bad … as we got through one of the “notches” enroute to the Interstate, we ran into a full-scale blizzard … the visibility was near zero … the roads weren’t plowed, and, this is for real … we didn’t know if we’d be able to make it through the snow … it was a terrible situation to be caught in …
As we left Franconia Notch, heading South, the sun seemed to just “come out.” To appear.
The farther South, the less snow … By the time we reached Massachusetts, there was hardly any snow on the sides of the road at all.
That Sunday, Easter Sunday, we were at a family gathering … a cookout … around the backyard pool. It was in the Mid-70’s, and everyone was wearing shorts, or something similar to go into the pool swimming. I swear I remember someone starting up the lawn mower and, taking their shirt off because of the heat, to finish mowing the lawn. Keep in mind, this was only 245 miles south of here … We came through a blizzard just hours before … it really was like being in the tropics! Except all we had to wear was
flannel and heavy coats…
So, when I joke around about how “different” the weather is up here in the North Country, I guess I’m really not joking … nor am I complaining … that’s just the way it is…
And, I can tell you this for certain: There may be spots with better weather … But, I don’t think they enjoy days like today as much as we did. We really do appreciate the good weather.
I’ll close with this: I was loading the bags of pellets in the truck, when I, very jokingly, said, “It’s too hot!” The man helping me told me that, believe it or not … a customer, today, already complained about how warm it was…
So, I’ll close for me, believe it or not, our pellet stove (our heat) has been off since about 12:45 today, and it’s still off … I need to clean the pellet stove before the next Storm … in a few hours…
Not to worry … We are leaving for Connecticut in the morning. I just checked, and in Hartford, CT, where Mark Twain’s billiard table is located (I bet he loved that billiard table!), the weather is supposed to be 50 degrees and sunny … even better on Sunday in
Rhode Island…
… If we can make it out of here…
Blessings,
R.V.R.
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