Sunday, December 04, 2011

Winter Prayer

Not THE snowy winter mentioned below but one of them from my childhood.
Born and bred in New England, I am used to long, hot summers punctuated with a few rainy days and pop-up thunderstorms. In my childhood, autumns, with their vivid foliage, were followed by cold, snowy winters. I remember a time when the first frost came in October and we had snow by Thanksgiving. One particularly snowy winter my brother had to grab a shovel and drop off the porch roof into a deep drift, shovel his way round to the garage doors (no electric overheads in those days), and shovel away the snow that had piled up three feet or more so my dad could get the car out. Today, the 4th of December, it is 50 degrees, the sun is warm, the breeze is barely cool and the confused forsythia bush in my yard is putting forth its second set of blossoms!

We who like to garden know a good snow cover is needed to insulate tender roots from the penetrating and damaging frost. Snow is often called the poor man's fertilizer, especially if it comes mid-spring once the ground has begun to thaw. Snow contains nitrogen and moisture, both essential to the health of emerging plants. If the predictions of a rainy winter in our area hold, even we poor folks won't be getting our fertilizer this winter.

So, please, please let it snow!

14 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ack i want snow...not just good for the plants but good for me...a year of no snow ball fights might induce deadly depression...

Stella Jones said...

Snowy blankets for the bulbs. I'm with you there. Snow is so pretty and fine if I can be cosy indoors, under a blanket of my own choosing and reading a good book.
Lovely pictures and words today Pauline.

Judith said...

Just as I predicted --- I wanted to leave a really nice comment about this informative post that might even change my mind about snow --
and Google squashed me flat.
Trying again.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello Pauline,

Wonderful memories of the past very interestingly written along with fascinating photos.

I never realized there are so many benefits of snowing.

Best wishes,
Joseph

Pauline said...

Brian - I'm sure your boys would agree! I want to snowshoe and build snowmen!

Star - thanks for coming by. I like snow best when I don't have to drive in it, but being out in it for play is great fun.

J - but this comment got through. Perhaps it is because you are trying to comment under your wordpress identity? I'm learning it because I must maintain a website there but the post was my own creation.

Joseph - thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. Vegetation in many areas depends on cold and snow cover for healthy spring plants. Me, I just like to play in it...

Out on the prairie said...

Got our first snow over the weekend.I had a new house when I was a kid my parents never knew it had a hill in the back until I started walking back through the yard.My mom got frantic when my head disappeared and I wasn't sure why,it was fun.

Anonymous said...

Here in Texas, our snow is wet and equals freeze. I envy you your soft dry-ish snow and those childhood memories of it! Praying you get as much as you need (and that we get a little just for fun!)

Anonymous said...

50 degrees, eh? It's certainly globally warm your way! We had our first icy morning this morning and it's been getting colder progressively for a while now. Snow is cautiously forecast for the end of the week. Not keen after two winters of beautiful chaos!

Pauline said...

OOTP - aren't childhood memories like that fun?

Barbara - I was watching the news tonight and saw that Texas snow! Yikes!

Dick - we had a blizzard in October and snow is predicted tomorrow after heavy rains blow through. The Old farmer's Almanac predicts a wetter rather than snowy winter. I'd rather the snow!

Hilary said...

Pauline, I'll be willing to let you have mine this year. Just allow me a bit for photos and a day or two of remembering how beautiful it is.. and one hour or two of satisfying snow shoveling and maybe a walk in deep drifts.. and...

Oh never mind. Sorry, I've changed my mind. But I'll toss the first snowball your way... whenever we get enough to get one together.

Reya Mellicker said...

I just read a winter prediction that snowfall will be "normal" on the eastern seaboard.

Of course that begs the question, what is normal?

I love snow. May it snow!

Friko said...

I have to say that I am quite glad that snow has held off so far. I'd find it very hard to cope at the moment. We get snowed in easily and we'd have to be rescued from the outside this year.

I'll use ordinary fertilizer next spring, please.

Joanna Jenkins said...

I do not miss cold winters.... That's the only reason I live in Los Angeles.
brrrr
jj

Marion said...

I am glad each year when we finally get a snow cover. Some years, it will get really cold before it snows and I want to go out and cover everything. It's a brutal climate here.

We have snow this year, though...right now, I feel good about it. It's when it hits the middle of May and it's still snowing...that's when I don't like it! xx