Bright. Windy. Cold. That pretty much sums up the weather for the past couple of days—though over the weekend it was simply cloudy and cold. We've had a hearthfire every evening and relished every BTU.
Yeah, the term "cold" is used relatively speaking. Some days the high has made it into the 50s˚F, which certainly isn't cold compared to mid-winter temperatures. But doggone, it sure feels a lot colder than those upper-70s˚ and mid-80s˚ we've been enjoying for weeks. Moreover, I know that has actually been a record-setting unseasonably warm period for this time of year…but a feller gets used to it, unseasonable or not.
My mother would have said we were simply experiencing Dogwood Winter. Like a lot of the older hill-country folks of the Southern-Appalachians, in her natural scheme of things Mom recognized various "little winters," small seasonal regressions which occured with enough regularity that they acquired a name. Others I learned from her were Blackberry Winter, Redbud Winter, and Locust Winter.
The different names reflected a phenological tie-in to peak bloom-times of common local plants—i.e., redbud, locust, and dogwood trees, along with blackberry briars. Each plant's bloom comes at a slightly different time in the spring.
Weather specialists call these fluctuations "singularities." Before a singularity is given any sort official sanction in their scientifically ordered world, it must happen at least 50 percent of the time. Probably the most widely acknowledged such weather singularity is autumn's Indian Summer.
Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 67˚F, which is more like it, and might finally give me a chance to thaw out. It will certainly be more comfortable for doing yard chores, while enjoying all the blooms and birds—including warblers—that form the glorious vernal setting for my favorite of all seasons.
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Incidentally, I've been sort of going though my own personal Dogwood Winter this past week or so—which is why I've been so negligent in my blogging. At the core is a potentially serious and life-altering health issue—though at the moment, the jury is still out on things. I'll expound on all this when I know where I stand. In the meantime, your prayers and thoughts will be be appreciated.
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19 comments:
Wondered where you were, all good thoughts going your way and hope all goes well.
Had our own tragedy here with the loss of one of our grandsons in a boating accident. Not found for 3 days, finally after nearly 3 weeks the Coroner has released him. A long hard road.
Penny…
So sorry to hear about your grandson. Please accept my sincere condolences—I know you must be deeply hurting. A long, hard road indeed. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.
wish you big loads of health and happiness,hope your medical struggles are overcome and you bounce back to your old self-you are loved by many-PS-I will put in a word to the big guy.
We have been having the same regression in the weather, it's been, and still is, cold and wet. Here it's called the Blackthorn Winter as the weather frequently turns bad when the lovely white blossom of the blackthorn appears. It flowers before the leaves open and looks as though it's covered in snow.
How interesting, Grizz. Here in the North of England we speak of a Blackthorn Winter, as we always seem to have a cold spell when the blackthorn is in bloom.
My prayers and thoughts are certainly winging your way Grizz.
AfromTO…
I should be okay—though a word with the Big Guy never hurts. I do appreciate your thoughts and words. Thank you.
Rowan…
I love all this little seasonal lore, including the different names. Blackthorn Winter sounds like a perfectly logical fit, and the flowering sounds lovely.
(As an aside…since as far back as I can remember, I've always lusted for a stout blackthorn walking stick. Once or twice I've found one in a shop, but they were fragile things, scarcely the diameter of my thumb, and too short for a 6'1" man. Nothing like the lovely shiny, ebony, hefty near-cudgel knobbed cane I once saw an old Lake Superior sailor using, which became my ideal example. I still have hopes of one day acquiring such an outdoorsman's staff.)
Besides the little winter names included in the post, I've also heard these spring regressions called a Whippoorwill Winter up in Michigan—which is when the whippoorwills begin calling along the trout streams of the northcountry.
WeaverX2…
I delight in stuff such as these old regional names for weather variations. Rowan (see above) also mentioned your Blackthorn Winter, which sounds perfectly fitting. I think such terms, old as language itself and rooted in good nature observation, are a big part of a culture's richness.
Thank you for your nice words. I should know more within a week or so.
Will be thinking my share of positive thoughts for you, Grizz.
Wanda…
Thank you—they are much appreciated.
I like the term Dogwood winter - and Indian Summer; all those beautiful connects with random seasonal events. Thoughts and prayers coming your way Grizz; I hope your Dogwood winter passes very soon and all turns out well.
Any of these terms related to "onion snow"?
As for health--here's praying and hoping all will be well.
Val…
Previous generations had an awareness of and understood nature and seasons in a more intimate, everyday way—and that insight is often wonderfully reflected in their local terms and language.
Thank you for your thoughts.
KGMom…
Yes, indeed. "Onion Snow" is just a term for the last snowfall of the season, which typically falls around the time when onion sets are being planted in the garden—but also when the green shoots of the first wild onions appear in old fields and meadow edges. It's not, per se, a term for the final series of cold snaps as the season morphs its way from winter to spring to summer—though I guess the two events could prove to be one and the same. But's it's a term coined with phenological awareness, for sure. Interestingly, it seems to be a definition predominate to the Pennsylvania area—though I have heard it used, rarely, elsewhere. Possibly it originated with the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Thank you re. health concerns—I have more tests today and tomorrow, and might possibly know where I stand by sometimes next week.
Hi there - this post finally appeared or I am blinder than I thought. :-) It is dogwood Winter here, as well - with a frost promised for over night tonight!
I am praying so hard for oyur good health it hurts. I swear. Please stay close. I love you truly and dearly.
Gail
peace....
Gail…
You said in your email you hadn't seen a new Riverdaze post in five weeks. There have been at least five new posts during that timeframe. So, you've definitely missed a few. There might be something going on with the way these posts are sent to you or flagged or reminded. Or it could be, as you suggest, that you're just "blinder" than you thought.
(Now, I could do that…but could you? Nahhh. You're smarter than me. Personally, I'd blame it on the new Blogger switchover which IMHO is a mess rather than an improvement.)
Anyway, now that you've found this latest post, you can back-click through the previous ones until you hit something you remember—and maybe from here on out things will work.
It's cool, cloudy, and supposed to rain here today. A fair amount of wind, too. The grass is lush and green, though.
Hey, I appreciate every thought and prayer. I may know something this coming week—and if so, I'll share. You take care of yourself and I know you'll enjoy the new relationship turn with the family. You just have to take what the other is willing to give, sometimes, and hope to build from there.
So sorry to hear about your health issues, Grizz. Rest assured you will be in my thoughts and prayers. To use the old football term, many of us are in the "red zone." The field is shorter and the challenges great. All of us will be rooting for you, just as you have always rooted for us. Be well and at peace, my friend.
George…
Thank you—your thoughts and prayers are appreciated more than you know. I'm just at one of those points where life, time, faith, and action must again fact off and become real. In others words, time to walk the walk.
I'll let you know what/how/when as it develops. In the meantime, thank you for your genuine friendship.
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