Signs of Spring...

[Frostheart Grueburn]

We only really get 3 months of proper winter

Care to discuss the nature of "proper winter"? Like -40C frosts?

[MsMary]

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz.
I wonder where the birdie is?

The bird
Is on the wing.

Ridiculous! Absurd!

The wing is on the bird!

Brilliant.

I can't take credit for writing it. I heard it from a friend many years ago and was amused. I don't know where he got it, but I suspect he didn't write it, either.

[aliantha]

Likely not. I had a version in a joke book that I got when I was in grade school. I can still quote the bloody thing, too...

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz.
I wonder where
The flowers is?

Spring has sprung,
Fall has fell,
Winter's here
And it's cold as heck.

[MsMary]

Likely not. I had a version in a joke book that I got when I was in grade school. I can still quote the bloody thing, too...

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz.
I wonder where
The flowers is?

Spring has sprung,
Fall has fell,
Winter's here
And it's cold as heck.

Hey! That doesn't rhyme!

[aliantha]

Likely not. I had a version in a joke book that I got when I was in grade school. I can still quote the bloody thing, too...

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz.
I wonder where
The flowers is?

Spring has sprung,
Fall has fell,
Winter's here
And it's cold as heck.

Hey! That doesn't rhyme!

Well, we're talking 5th (I think) grade. We were sheltered kids back then....

[MsMary]

[deer of the dawn]

I thought the "wing is on the bird" sounded vaguely familiar.

The Harmattan is finally retreating here. The sky actually has some blue, and looks silver instead of brown. You can no longer write your name in the dust on the coffee table after one night.

In just another month we should get some rain!

[Avatar]

We only really get 3 months of proper winter

Care to discuss the nature of "proper winter"? Like -40C frosts?

That's not winter, that's hell. 16°C is cold for me. Anything under that is freezing and inhuman.

--A

[MsMary]

What's the coldest it gets in your neck of the woods, Av?

16°C is on the chilly side here.
We appreciate the chance to haul out our sweaters, for a change.

We rarely have cold weather here, the coldest it gets is down to 10°C and that's usually only a couple of isolated winter days. I don't mind it being that cold when I'm at work, generally, but it's miserable when I'm home cause the house is not built to stay warm. It's built to stay cool against the usual heat we have around here. And it's just a waste of energy to turn out the heat, but I always try it anyway.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

O_o +16C is early-summer T-shirt weather here and very comfortable at that. Many of us (myself included) start feeling queasy when the temps soar past +25C during midsummer, but I believe there's a strong genetic reason to that. People over here would've perished millennia ago, had they not been able to withstand cold.

That's not winter, that's hell. 16°C is cold for me. Anything under that is freezing and inhuman.

Does this lead to the scientific conclusion that Nordics are not humans?

Here's ice-hole swimming (avantouinti) in Finland (And it's popular!).

[deer of the dawn]

I lived in Vermont for years, and one morning we did have -40F (which, btw, is the same as -40C!) It was often below zero F though. At that temperature, the snot in your nose freezes, the car seats crack, and snow makes a creaking noise when you step on it that is like nails on a chalkboard. And you go through a lot of firewood. And even then the pipes freeze.

For all its problems, Africa ain't so bad.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

0F is about -17C, which is a fairly normal brumal temperature regarding these latitudes. Good times for long cross-country skiing trips; the snow begins crusting over (kantohanki) and thus provides better support. Also halos become increasingly frequent; I love spotting those during dawns and sunsets.

There's a trick to preventing frozen pipes: you leave the tap dripping at all times.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to live that far south. Too hot and I'd burn to a crisp in about a millisecond.

[Ananda]

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to live that far south. Too hot and I'd burn to a crisp in about a millisecond.

The days over about 23 are no good! too warm. And the bright days... I can't see anything at all without sunglasses. My eyes are too light coloured and I am blinded by all the light. Grey and cloud covered days are my favourite! I love autumn.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

The days over about 23 are no good! too warm.

:ssh: They already think our DNA is formed of snowflakes and we travel to work with sleighs harnessed to polar bears...

[Ananda]

This is from the park down the street. It's a large nature park and there are goats, deer, pigs, many types of birds and so. Every year there are pretty baby goats and little baby ducks are everywhere around here since we live right near the river.

[MsMary]

That's pretty neat.

[Avatar]

What's the coldest it gets in your neck of the woods, Av?

Coldest minimum we get is probably -5°C, but that's pretty rare. Mid winter, (July) averages a min of 5°C and a max of 16°C. (Average of course...can vary by a few degrees each way on any given day.)

Like yours, our houses are designed to be cool in summer...which means they're freezing in winter.

--A

[sgt.null]

I lived in Vermont for years..

where if i may ask? i am from new hampshire, but julie and i spent a year in brattleboro before moving to her native texas.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

Well, looks like the freezing, inhuman, br00tal, grimdark, etc. North is showing some signs of spring. Instead of the promised snow, we actually got a week's worth of plus-sign-days and rain, so some of the areas less covered in that white mush have become depraved of their winter garments. It's very soggy, however, and it wasn't precisely fun to spend several hours in damp shoes during our Saturday hike.

It's bloody cairns again, but in certain areas you can't go out to buy a carton of milk without stumbling into five of these and getting a score of barrow-wights to shake their ethereal fists at you. Some exist on people's back yards.

[MsMary]

What's the coldest it gets in your neck of the woods, Av?

Coldest minimum we get is probably -5°C, but that's pretty rare. Mid winter, (July) averages a min of 5°C and a max of 16°C. (Average of course...can vary by a few degrees each way on any given day.)

Like yours, our houses are designed to be cool in summer...which means they're freezing in winter.

--A

Gotcha. And empathizing.

My husband can never understand why I'm freezing and huddling under a blanket here when I did just fine up north where it was much colder.

Um, dear, it's because we had a house with good insulation and an effective furnace when we lived up north. Duh!