Friday, February 21, 2014

A Day as Sweet as Honey

This morning, it was above freezing here in upstate New York, near Binghamton, New York.  The snow was melting, and rain was a couple of hours away.


We still have lots of snow on the ground, after our long stretch of cold and snowy weather.

In the sunrise, the sidewalk on Main Street in Westover was not showing any scenic beauty. What you are seeing is ice with standing water. Everything was dreary and dirty. This is the non-beauty of late winter snow here, not the stuff of Hallmark cards.

And then the rains came.  And came.  And came.  But the temperature rose, to a high of 47 F (8.3 C).  Melt, snow, melt! But don't flood! Our silent prayers came in unison.

Then, in late afternoon, the sun came out.  Suddenly, the day was as sweet as honey.  The sunshine penetrated through our minds, still in self imposed hibernation.  Birds tweeted.  "Spring is a month away!" the sunshine sang to us. "Open your coats and let the sunshine in.  Dance and twirl in the the warmth.  The golden hour is just minutes away!  Awaken, maple trees, and feel the sap start to flow. Your time is almost here, too. Can the crocuses be far behind?"

And, at the end of the day, I slid on the ground as I took this picture.  But tomorrow there is a promise for more sunshine, more honey.

And then, next week, it's back to lows below zero.

We'll enjoy the honey while we can.

14 comments:

  1. Oh I bet the maple trees will be so beautiful too! We do not have as dramatic a change of season's here, it must be beautiful.

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    1. The change of seasons is beautiful here. It's slow at first, but when things get going, everything seems to be blooming at once.

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  2. It already feels like summer to me here in Central Florida, so I'm sending prayers for all of you in the snowbound states. Stay warm and enjoy the honey.

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    1. I wish we could stay warm - but after today, I think it's down hill for a while. But send those prayers - we are all aching for spring.

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  3. Our melt is morphing to mud. Which means even our four-wheel drives are finding a way to get hung up in the driveway. :-/ I'm ready for this weather to become consistent.

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    1. So are all of us. This was a pretty muddy day, after it got up to 46 degrees. And it took hours for the ice to defrost!

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  4. It's funny to see where I'm at now, where it's not too cold or too hot. The weather is perfect!

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    1. I am wishing for perfect weather just about now but weather consistently above freezing would seem perfect just about now.

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  5. You guys have really had an "old fashioned" winter. Here in Ireland, we're dealing with rain and windstorm after rain and windstorm and plenty of flooding. Meteorologists are saying that this is the most rain in a winter since the turn of the 1900s. Madness.

    On the bright side, I did find that my daffodils and tulips have started to come up in the corner of my garden. It, much like you were saying about the sun's first appearance, made my heart sing.

    All the best from Dublin, Ireland -

    Rose
    (Visiting from UBC)
    http://www.blog.PhoenixRoseDesign.com

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    1. Thank you for sending signs of spring. If someone is having spring, can our spring be far behind? Actually, your weather sounds dreadful and I also wish you the best.

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  6. It's spring here near London. Today is the second day of sunshine. Delicate crocus are blooming under spreading horse chestnut trees. Our winter has been very mild (apart from the rain)--no snow lay on the ground, no ice, and no frost. The roses never lost the last remnanats of growth and new leaves have emerged.

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    1. Keep those descriptions of spring coming, Francene. We are so hungry for spring here, we can taste it! (and yes, spring has a taste).

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  7. Alana,
    We've had a few days here lately which hearken to spring. The sky has been blue for a few hours; the sun has come out; "sweet as honey" sounds about right. Amalia and I stopped what we were doing and went out and stretched in the sun like drowsy cats. What a blessing the coming of spring will be, after such a cold winter! I LOVE having four seasons, but springtime is my absolute favorite one!

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    1. I'm glad for your blue skies. Our skies were blue today, but it was so windy and it took so long for the ice to defrost. The coming of spring will be welcomed by millions across our country, and you'll get it before we do -so please send some our way.

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