Yesterday we spent some time prepping the yard for winter. Priscilla emptied out her flower pots and washed them out before stowing them away and I dug up the remains of my garden and left the dirt to weather the winter.
It was a beautiful day to work outside and we even had a chance to visit with the neighbors while my friend was putting up his Halloween decorations. My neighbor has a big display every year and he admitted he was getting to it late. The neighborhood kids were even wondering if it was going to happen this year.
I was thinking, while resting from my extremely exhausting yard work (I think I was out there for almost a WHOLE hour)… Maybe we should winterize ourselves too.
I know when you think about winterizing you think about your car, the fluid levels and the tires. By the way, do you have your snow brush back in the car? Winterizing the house can mean putting the screens up and cleaning the wood stove.
What do I mean about winterizing ourselves?
Well, to begin with, stop trying to figure out the long-range forecasts. I read one that said we were in for a rough winter, then I heard another one last week that said the winter will feature above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. Then this morning, on a walk, I saw two Woolly Bear Caterpillars.
You’ve never heard of the Woolly Bears? Here’s a piece from, of all places, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The woolly bear caterpillar—also called woolly worm or fuzzy worm—has the reputation of being able to forecast the coming winter weather.
Here’s the legend: The Woolly Bear caterpillar has 13 distinct segments of either rusty brown or black. The wider the rusty brown sections (or the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.
The two that I saw had a wide band of rusty brown. A good sign!
Here’s my prediction — call it the Old Blogger’s Prognostication:
We will have some days that are wicked cold, some that aren’t bad. There will be some cold rainy spells and it will probably snow a few times. We will curse the cold, windy days and be extremely upset when the streets and sidewalks get icy. The sun will shine at times and we’ll be upset in March when spring seems to allude us, though truth be told, spring never comes soon enough.
There.
I know it’s fun to read these long range forecasts and I appreciate those in the weather business who try to make them, but I’ve come to realize that some winters are tough, some not bad. Last year wasn’t bad so maybe this year we balance out? Fact of the matter is we can’t change what’s coming so why not prepare just in case.
Make sure your house and car are as ready as they can be. Find your scraper before you wake up to a 27 degree morning, the kids are sick, you’re late for work, you ran out of bagels and you don’t have time for this!
Prepare yourself and accept the fact that this is New England. It snows. It gets cold. I’m always amazed by people who seem surprised when it gets cold. I would expect that if you just moved here from a warmer climate but, in my case, I’ve been through 58 years of this so I should be used to it by now.
Make sure you have a good coat, warm hat and gloves that still keep you warm. And, probably most important, get them out now before you really need them. Do you have boots for the snow? Good shoes for an icy walkway? Someone to shovel you out if you can’t do it yourself anymore? I have two great kids next door if I get snowed in while everyone is at work.
And what about you if you get stuck in the house for a few days? A couple of years ago I wrote about the Hoopla app. I have it through the Milicent Library in Fairhaven. It’s an app on my phone that lets me borrow books. I use it mostly in the winter when I can’t get out to the library. I don’t know if it’s just available in Fairhaven but you could check.
Do you have things that you like to do that could help you spend a few hours? Some classic movies to watch or Netflix or Amazon Prime? Do you like to paint? Write? Cook?
There are going to be days when some of us are stuck in the house. There are going to be days when the kids get sick. There MIGHT be snow days when they get a day off from school, though I don’t think they had any last year.
Just like a professional athlete mentally prepares himself for the big game, we need to prepare for the winter. Some people LOVE this time of year! Maybe, just maybe, with some planning and preparation you can at least find it tolerable.
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