I'm calling this the No Snow Edition because all of us are tired of the snow and we don't want any more snow added to what we have now. We've been in the north for a whole week now and everyday we have had snow. I wake up in the morning and see a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. It's really pretty. The snow covers the sticks and the landscape looks pretty again...but it melts ever so quickly making the sticks shiny and the wilty leaves soggier. True, this is late season snow that does not stick around for very long, it is still snow and the temps prove that it can snow at any time it is under 35 degrees.
One morning, the back porch railing was slick and shiny. Since it's not normally slick nor shiny I had to test it to see what the problem was. I walked outside and felt the railing to discover it was covered with ICE. That means it was under 32 degrees outside. I don't know how cold it got overnight but by 10 AM the ice was still around.
The grocery store is by the bank. Like all good banks, there is a sign that tells the time and temperature. We usually get to the store in the afternoon and that day the temperature read 37 degrees. In Geezerville South the temp was 73 and rising...not here in GN (you know Geezerville North). The sky was dark, with all the clouds forming one big gray gooey cloud just waiting to start to snow again. We've been to the store several times, and the highest temp we have seen is 47 degrees. BRRRRR!
So for folks who don't own coats, we are padding around GN in our thickest fleece jackets, hoping it will be enough to beard the few degrees of warmth out there. Of course, the natives are thinking it's a heat wave and they are wearing skimpy tops and shorts with boots (of course). It's all a matter of perspective. They think 37 is part of a warming trend and we think it's just plain cold.
Perspective is strange like that. We are seeing and experiencing GN differently from the locals. The locals see this as the end of winter while the snowbirds see it as winter is still here. The locals are not quite ready for the snowbirds to be back in town. The snowbirds who are here, know they are here too early.
I believe the locals are wondering why we are here as nothing is ready for us. That's true. All the summer campgrounds are closed having maintenance done, just waiting for the onslaught of the 'birds. The golf courses are not groomed. The swimming pools are still covered, waiting to be cleaned. (BTW, there are no hot tubs.) The senior center is not serving meals. GN is still in winter mode. Soon (I hope sooner rather than later) the snow will melt, the temps will rise and 'birds will come drifting back in their long RVs and 1 ton diesel pickups. We saw one of those huge RVs yesterday trying to maneuver in the store parking lot. Because the lot was mostly empty, that big guy could actually get out of the lot. That will not be the case in a few weeks. The snowbirds will start to trickle in, reaching a full crescendo by the first week of June. They will return when there are just a few patches of dirty snow on the ground, and a slight dusting of snow on the mountains that ring the valley. That's the sign that says, welcome to one more glorious Rocky Mountain summer, the best in the world. In the meantime remember, we're all in this together.
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