Friday, February 10, 2012

Winter Browns

Last winter, we had A LOT of snow.  And no really good January or February thaws.  The snow piles and snow banks grew to impressive heights.  Managing the snow became a chore in itself.  And an added expense as we paid to have snow moved from one place to another.

This winter has been just the opposite.

We had an impressive 15 inches of the white stuff just before Halloween!  It quickly melted away.  Then, we had another storm for Thanksgiving.  Then.  Well.  Nothing really.

The snow plow has been sitting idle.  The snowblower has been collecting dust.  The new snow shovels still look brand new.  We have grass exposed in the pastures.  We're even considering tapping some of our maple trees.

Instead of a snowy white winter, we have been dealing with a rather brown winter.  It's not right.  Meanwhile, family and friends in Europe are being pummelled by heavy snows and bitter cold weather.  It's just not right.

Some people suffer from winter blues.  Not us.  No, we are suffering from winter browns.

Having said all that, an article in this week's Intertown Record newspaper reminds us that only a few years ago, we had a similarly snow free start to the winter.  Then all hell broke loose on Valentine's Day and the local Sunapee Mountain received many feet of new snow during the weeks that followed.

So, I guess there's still time for more of the white stuff....  But for now, the horses are fully coated and nibbling on brown dried grass in their pastures.  Odd.