This is More Like It

Big deal, you say: kids playing on the porch. Well let me tell ya sumpin, this here is Canada, eh, and it's only mid March. Do you see any jackets? No, but you do see sun hats. Crazy eh?

We've had a gentle winter all things considered, our warmest and driest in 63 years, thanks to The Little Boy (El Nino — sorry if I've translated incorrectly, but I think I've read that somewhere). In the Ottawa area, we're sometimes snow-covered from mid-November to almost mid-April, but this years it's only been from December through February. The snow has been melting apace since March began and only remains in shaded areas or where it's been piled extra high after clearing — or both. In fact, I have been told that Environment Canada declared winter to be officially over last week, and it's really been over for almost three weeks now.

Compare that to these two photos which I posted on March 9, two years ago.





And look how much remained on our lawn on March 29 of that same year.



There was still plenty around on April 13, if you please.


I've often said that the main problem with winter is that it lasts too long and that I'd like it to stay away until December and be over by the end of February. Well, by golly, that's exactly what happened this year. Oh yes, we'll almost certainly have some miserably cold weather and some snow to boot, but it will pass quickly because winter is over.

The Summer That Isn't

The weather around here is just nuts, I tell ya. Nuts! We're running about four degrees cooler than average so far this summer. That's measuring against the average, mind you me, not necessarily one of those torridly hot summers. (And for those of you who don't do celsius, just double it to eight for an approximation of farenheit equivalent.) That's a pretty major difference.

By chance, we caught a meteorologist on the radio this morning (remember radios?), and he said something to the effect that there's a major high pressure centre stuck over the Atlantic. That has brought a cool low into our area, and this low is spinning around like spokes on a wheel. We can see it in the sky. Clouds just keep on coming and coming — white ones, black ones, and ones with a bit of both. Fortunately, there are also blue patches. It's pretty weird.

There's a folk festival in a town that's about a half hour to our west. Yesterday, we set out despite the ominous sky. Just as we were leaving town with doubt filled minds, I said, "Let's keep driving until it starts to rain." Immediately, and for once I'm not exaggerating, drops fell on the windshield, so we turned around.

Today was almost an exact replay. So, we ended up sipping coffee in our local park and taking pictures of the wacky sky. I guess none of those menacing clouds that you see above and below passed directly over our heads because it didn't rain. It was pretty darn chilly though.

Next Saturday evening, we hope to attend another free, outdoor concert in the city. Let's hope the weather has moved on by then.