The Long Absent Sun

Yesterday and last night saw temperatures of fifteen and sixteen degrees above zero, yet yesterday had an occurrence which we had not seen for a seemingly long time. The sun came out and shone quite brightly most of the afternoon.

Today was a balmy thirty-two degrees, sunny most of the day, and so we ventured over the mountains for an outing with the family member who recently moved back north from Southern Climes.

We had not seen sunshine for such a long time, it was almost alien when it first began shining yesterday ~ although the bright sunlight was more than welcomed. And the family member who recently moved back from Southern Climes was delighted the sun had melted all the snow from her car.

Poor soul, her garage is still fairly packed with moving boxes the movers hauled in, which she is pain-stakingly unpacking one box at a time. Placing them in the garage has saved her the aggravation of having them under-foot in the house ~ however it also prevented her from putting her car in the garage when the weather turned sub-freezing. And the garage has been colder than normal which has made the going a little slow.

So the effects of the sudden sunshine was like a mid-winter balm in many ways. However the downside to the sunshine was that when the darkness fell yesterday, the fifteen degree weather seemed to be much colder than it had before.

One night over the just passed weekend, the thermometer went to eighteen below and the fourteen degree temperature the next day seemed by contrast almost warm. This evening when the darkness fell, it was the same story all over again ~ the absence of the sunlight suddenly making the thirty-two degree air feel much colder than before, although there had been no temperature change.

One of the Four-footed Members of the Family even briefly frolicked in the snow on one of the necessary trips outdoors yesterday. Briefly, but not for long. In warmer weather, some of them love to bury their noses and roll in the soft snow and have a great time doing so.

But it has been too cold for that type of frolicking for quite sometime. Today however we had to coax the adventurous snow-pups inside after they had nearly covered themselves in snow as they took advantage of the warmer weather for some long overdue fun.

For a change, the smaller Four-footed Members of the Family did not need picked up immediately yesterday after taking care of their business ~ although last night in weather a degree warmer with the sun down behind the horizon, they did. Today they lingered longer outdoors than they have for a couple of weeks, it seems. Perhaps the sub-freezing weather did not last quite that long, but it certainly feels as if it has.

The past two winters have been warmer overall with only perhaps several days and nights of what the forecasters will term "dangerous" below zero weather. Besides hearing the nearly constant news reports of sickness and packed emergency rooms when the winter temperatures are up-and-down and up-and-down, the warmer winters do not do the job of sufficiently freezing the ground to absolve it of some of the insect pests ~ and the insects are always worse the following spring and summer.

We are fairly sure this long period of sub-freezing weather we have just had will do the job however ~ and today we reminded the family member who just moved back north of the coming benefits. She still has not complained even once about the bitterest of cold but has let us know several times ~ several times today alone ~ that she sincerely hopes there is an Early Spring.

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