JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This past week I was staying at my sister Barb’s house in the DC area. She and her husband are celebrating their 25th anniversary and a landmark birthday with a trip to Greece (which also doubles as a visit with their youngest son, a student at the University of Athens.) They have three, shall we say, unique dogs with unusual temperaments and needs, and they asked if I could dog- and house-sit while they were away.
I was happy to, because my sister is the bomb-diggity and it’s nice to be able to do something sweet for her. But also, like many folks residing in northern climes, I LOVE getting out of Maine in March.
March is the WORST month in the northeast, bar none. At this point, we are all just so damn tired of winter. So. Damn. Tired. Yes, temperatures are trending upward. (It hit 40F/5C yesterday, woo hoo!) Yes, the snow is melting, turning everything not covered in stone or asphalt into a mucky mire. No, I don’t have to leave the water trickling overnight like I did in January and February.
But it’s been almost three months since Christmas. The excitement from seeing beautiful snow flakes falling has become an existential dread. The once-new woolly sweaters and boots feel like penitential garb. Sitting close to the woodstove has gone from cozy to claustrophobic.
 |
| Kingsley doesn't like March either |
And as the snow slowly, slowly melts, the revealed landscape is all brown and gray - dirt scraped up from the road, dead grass, sodden trees. We still have two more weeks before the earliest colors - our ubiquitous forsythia. A good month before the daffodils and narcissus.
Meanwhile, in Alexandria, it’s in the fifties, and the sun is shining. The grass is greening, and the daffodils and visible in people’s gardens. The flowering trees and shrubs that make the DC area such a wonderland in spring aren’t in blossom yet, but the signs of life are everywhere. I wear sneakers while walking her (weird little) dogs. Sneakers! I haven’t worn anything except boots or slippers in four months. I go coatless on the morning walk - although admittedly, this is me being a Maine resident for most of my life. Everyone else I see walking their dogs has at least a windbreaker on.
So it’s been great getting away for week. Just that small taste of spring gives me the strength to carry on through mud season. How about you, dear readers? What’s the worst month where you live, and how to you power through it?
Worst winter weather? January and February tend to be the coldest [and the snowiest] months; mostly I stay home as much as possible. Cold and snow and ice are definitely not my idea of lovely weather, so I'm happy to be able to say the temperature was about sixty [yes, sixty!] degrees today and the daffodils are just about to bloom . . . .
ReplyDeleteThe worst month for cooler weather is usually January. This year it was warm and sunny in January. More rain in February. Spring is here in California. The white blooming trees started mid January and the pink followed three weeks later. Grass and hills are a beautiful green. Many flowers are blooming, or never stopped, like the geraniums. We have had several days in the mid eighties. If the sun is out, the high is usually near 80. Roses are blooming, and it is time to plant tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteThis is central California, very southern and warmer end of the Bay Area.
I'm with you on March in New England, for sure. Nobody likes mud. Even worse, when the ground is still frozen but it rains and floods basements because there's nowhere for the water to seep into. But November can be So Dark. Just...dark. If it weren't for my birthday and Thanksgiving, I might just give up in November.
ReplyDeleteI'll report back on March in Denver tomorrow - heading to the airport in an hour for Left Coast Crime (see you there, Rhys)!
March is definitely bad here in the Adirondacks. For all the reasons you mention, Julia, a friend and I used to stuff our children in a car and drive to south-central Florida during our school's mid-March vacation. Oh, the incredible relief of not dealing with snowsuits and wet boots and frozen mittens! I rented a condo in a retirement community in what was then the middle of nowhere. We brought bikes and bird guides and every other day we'd visit the local Goodwill for new paperbacks and old VHS movies to watch with dinner. We'd read while the kids played in the pool. It was all very quiet. It was perfect. However, THEN we'd drive back to the mountains to find fresh snow and more weeks of subfreezing weather. In many years, April is the toughest month here, more like the March you describe. It's the sixth month of cold and gloom. Robins typically return on a warmish day circa March 30, but if the snow has subsided the fields are frozen and brown and apparently lifeless. Often it snows after the robins' arrival and you see them hunched and miserable on the ground. It's usually early May before the green really gets going. I'm always grateful to the poplars, "popple," often here dismissed as a "weed tree." As a group they are among the first to show a flush of pale green buds in the spring and the last to lose golden leaves in the fall. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteSurely Selden in March and April you would have the happiness of young lambs dancing in the snow, the puddles, the mud, and the spring sunshine. That made my heart sing!
DeleteNo puddles yet, Margo, nor lambs dancing in the snow. We've had a couple of feet, plus a week of high wind, dreary grey skies, and temps around 0°F... though it's warmed up significantly in the last few days (down to 12° at night). Only two weeks ago I had to hire a backhoe to come out from town to shift the snowbanks back from the driveway because there was no place for a plow to put more. With this very recent warming I've seen small birds at a distance, in the woods, for the first time since late November. And enough snow has subsided that I can get my 1-gallon small bucket under the standing frost-free spigot in the barnyard. (The barn frost-free has been frozen for months.) I fill my five-gallon buckets gallon by gallon. That's better than pint by pint, which it was until this recent melt back... the ice has been so high I could only fit the lip of the small bucket underneath. Things are definitely on the upswing, and today is a bluebird day... blue skies and due to get to 30°F. :) (Selden)
DeleteYes, March was the most horrid month in Rochester, Minnesota where I previously lived for 40 years. Also, unbelievably, the snowiest month historically and that snow is always the heavy wet stuff.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is lovely to see so much green and flowers blooming here now, I was disappointed by the long stretch of gray and cold weather we had in Ocala, Fl in January and February this year. Everyone says it was very unusual. I expect the summer months to be the ones to keep people indoors because of the heat and humidity, but at least we will not have to shovel it.
Usually the storms hit in January. These days it seems October is the worst with the fires in California.
ReplyDeleteIn much of New England, March comes in like a lion and goes out with the lion's lifeless body still frozen in a snowbank. Ptah!
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
DeleteGreat description! haha
DeleteOh, Jerry, that is perfect. I laughed out loud. (Selden)
DeleteGood one, Jerry!
DeleteIn Washington DC, when it does up to 50 degrees it is considered warm in March
ReplyDeleteMarch, though Cincinnati is not as bad as Cleveland. Mud, daffodils pushing up, lots of sticks littering the yard. It's warm enough not to wear my usual down-filled pup tent coat. The car washes are busy.
ReplyDeleteMarch for sure is the ugly month here, dirty snow and ice and still so cold. We have a magnificent view of forest covered hills and even they are dull and brown. But April is the month of greatest disappointment, as the snow (finally!) starts to disappear but often returns for a last storm or two. So discouraging, especially if one likes to garden. Although the last couple of years we have had a heat wave in mid-April, just to keep us guessing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHappy 25th anniversary to Barb! They sure picked a scary time to be in Athens, didn't they? SO many protests and violence in the last couple weeks. There were flashbangs set off right outside my daughter's flat when the crowd overflowed into their neighborhood in Kolonaki last Monday.
ReplyDeleteFebruary is my least favorite month, although this year it was cold enough to have the fireplace roaring almost every night. Gave me a chance to catch up on garden planning, so I just hygged it up.
My daughter in Traverse City always says the same thing about how looooong and dreary March is. Even though she's a born-again "Up North" Michigander, she yearns for the flowering trees and spring bulbs this time of year, and is so over the shoulder-height snow piled in their yard. In fact, she's in Cincinnati this week, reveling in the 70-ish temps and being outside as much as she can.
Like KAREN, February is my least favourite month. By then, we have had 3 months of never ending snow and cold. March flipflops from winter to false spring. It is -8C/14F in Ottawa this morning.
ReplyDeleteHere in Denver, it is 6C/42 F going up to 21C/70F!
March is my least favourite month for all the reasons you list, Julia. January is fine, because it's a new year. February means we've made it through January. But March seems interminable with its cycle of cold then warm enough to melt and than back to cold enough to freeze, so ice is everywhere making being outdoors a challenge even if the temps seem appealing. But we're almost halfway through this month and then it's April...with whatever that month will bring. But we'll be closer to May and that's always good.
ReplyDeleteHere is Atlantic Canada today, it is raining. The sky-ceiling seems to be touching the earth it is so dark. The satellite for tv (we need it for radio as well) is flipping in and out – it doesn’t like rain. The beauty (?) of this time of year is that the ground is still frozen, so any liquid collecting on soil does not perk – that means ‘stuff’ backs up in the bath tub. That means only one ‘wet load’ a day be it wash, dishes, etc. We always hope not to have company at this time!
ReplyDeleteWorse month – psychologically, probably May or June. In your head it should be warm, getting warmer, and sunny, and yet so often Mother Nature screams – No, No, No. Fooled you! Then she presents rain, cold, misty, foggy, and even snowy days just to annoy you. Sometimes she plays April Fool and gives you nice weather – just to keep you on your toes…
So, in spite of all this, I welcome the change in clocks that happened on the weekend, as I do not like to get up early, and see no reason to have light in my eyes starting from 4:30 am and decreasing (that is on the longest days of the year, but strong light is wasted in my mind and eyes any time before 6am). We are on the eastern edge of Atlantic time, so we are the first to get the light – if you go to the western edge of the same time zone, there is about 45 mins difference. I feel like John Denver as I sing “Sunlight on my shoulder makes me happy…”
Glad you got to escape for a week! And Happy Anniversary to your sister. The weather has been so inconsistent lately, it's hard to answer the question. Often the winter includes weeks of gray, rain, occasional snow and general gloom. It gets very old. This year we had 3 weeks of sunshine in January and without the biting east wind. So strange. We had 2 days of snow in mid February (which meant cancellation of my orthopedic appointment and another week in the cumbersome urgent care splint). March seems a bit more normal, with rain and occasional sunny days. Daffodils and daphne and tulip trees and hellebore are all blooming here. Portland is lovely in the spring and we do appreciate the sunshine when it shows up.
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt September in Tampa. It is usually the height of hurricane season. The humidity hovers above 95%, and it is 75 degrees - at night. It rains every. darn. day. Almost always right when schools let out, or rush hour starts. Cockroaches, and snakes rule the outdoors. If any decided to make plans to visit, like for Labor Day; reconsider.
ReplyDeleteI agree that March is dreary, but I think the hardest month for me is November. In November, the attractive part of fall is gone, Christmas is a long way away, and there's no Thanksgiving in Switzerland; cold rain, sleet, and sometimes snow fall off and on, and above all it's DARK and growing darker.
ReplyDeleteJanuary AND February are my least favorite months here in Pennsylvania. I'm over the snow the minutes the New Year rolls in. January is all snow and ice. February is dirty snow and slush, all this year, February was colder than usual, so no slush. Just more snow.
ReplyDeleteMarch is a tug-of-war between spring and Old Man Winter with temperatures rollercoastering from thirties to seventies and back again. Several times. In the same week. And there's MUD.
My favorite month is April because there are pops of color. The grass greens up, the forsythia and daffodils give bursts of yellow, and the crocuses blossom into purple. The downside are the April showers.
I'm in Ohio and agree that March is difficult because I'm ready for spring, but spring isn't quite ready to arrive. However, the slightly longer days and the time change help me cope. I'd say February is a bit rougher for me because of the lack of daylight. I'm always thankful it's a short month! On the upside, late April and early May make up for all the gray winter months, and they're just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you have a respite from the cold and dreariness, Julia! I'm in northern Ohio, and March and April are probably the hardest months for me. As noted by others, we can go from 60s mid-day to 30s by evening on any given day. Ice today, crocuses in the morning. The sunlight helps, but the trees are all bare. I've taken to looking for the beauty of those bare black branches against a colorful sunset or sunrise to help me through until true Spring arrives. Or sun glowing through the feathery tops of tall grasses--I'll take any glimmer of beauty I can find these days. Blessings to you all this morning!
ReplyDeleteJulia, you would enjoy a show on WETA, the DC area public television station, "If you Lived Here," showcasing different neighborhoods, their history, and houses for sale.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I should say anything but our worst months are May Grey and June Gloom where the temps are in the 60's and it grey and gloomy. It's what I call our winter here in southern Calif.
ReplyDeleteBut lately we've have pretty much overcast and cooler temps (50&60's) for much of the year. We are finally getting some much needed rain this week. My daughter moved to Portland, OR years and years ago and loves to visit us back "home" but she loves the change of seasons and the beautiful flowers and trees that all blossom in the spring in PDX.
I marvel again at how many of us in this community hail from various parts of Ohio! I represent the greater Columbus area, having downsized into a far north suburb of the city last fall. Though I face quite different traffic patterns now, the climate is the same as I always knew. And I am writing this post from Sanibel Island, Florida, where I am currently vacationing.
ReplyDeleteAbout 30 years ago I worked for a bank and the president and executive vice president used to have this discussion all the time. They could not vacation at the same time, but it was OK because the president always wanted to escape for part of February, while the evp said he couldn't bear the thought of returning from his tropical vacation with all of March still to be faced. I come down on the side of the evp. February can be tough, yes, but I'd rather vacation in March so that when I return there's not much bad weather left.
I will give a nod to all those who complained about November, too. It is a very, very, very GRAY month in Ohio, often sporting bleak winds and cold rains. For me the saving grace of November is that it leads into the holiday season and I am able to be distracted by the shiny baubles coming soon.
I agree with Annette - January and February are the hardest in SW Pennsylvania. The charm of winter is gone and it's one day after the other of slush, rain, cold, ice, snow or maybe a combination of all of it. While it was 60 degrees yesterday, it was in the 30s last week so March is definitely a little bipolar. Spring wanting to come, Winter not wanting to go. But by April, there should be a mist of green on the trees and flowers popping up. I just hope my morning glories come back this year.
ReplyDeleteYou never really know what to expect with March. We get a day like yesterday with the temperature hitting 70 degrees and so we do a little dance, thinking that's it, winter is over. Except it is not as we will soon find out. Here in upstate NY some of our heaviest winter snows have come in March. I think it was in 1993 when a huge snowstorm blasted the entire east coast. But the good news when that happens is that the snow melts rather rapidly. The other day I was surprised to see that my daffodils are just popping up. I had forgotten all about them. No sign of life anywhere else though.
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to not having to put on boots just to step out the door.
March in Maine, or as we call it “mud season” is my least favorite month (with April not far behind. I do love winter (it is so cozy for an introvert like me!) and skiing is easier (temperature wise) in March so I try to focus on that. The mountains are still snow covered (as they should be), but everywhere else is murky mud and no signs of green. Soon our lake-side neighborhood will be filling up with summer visitors… (I’ll keep my thoughts on that to myself…). We have a cranky saying up here in Maine that goes something like this: if you can’t handle the winter here, you don’t deserve the summers. I know, it’s cranky, but that’s what happens up here after 6 months of peace and quiet that gets suddenly disrupted by lots of random people and their jet skis!
ReplyDeleteIn some places, we are seeing signs of spring in March. And in some places it looks like winter despite the “springtime” starting in March.
ReplyDeleteWe are getting much needed rain here in California. When I was a young child, I remember a children’s book about the weather and calendar. March was “March Showers”.