This Is Not December Weather, Thank Buddha

Want to note that for the past couple days, and if you want to stretch it the past week (maybe since about last Sunday or Monday), it has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota.  In fact, we have been in the 40s the past two or three days, and I think we even punched up past 50 today (Sunday).

That has, of course, meant that the snow cover we had beginning with that big snowstorm in early November is just about gone.  Add to it the dreary, cloudy weather that has produced a steady drizzle the past 24 hours-plus, and I was shocked to come out of the house this morning to see most of the grass in my front and back yards.  (I don't see the pellets of fertilizer I laid down just before that big snowstorm.  The ground's probably warm enough that the pellets' nutrients soaked in under the snow cover followed by the warm temperatures this week.  Good.)  In fact there are just a few patches of now icy snow dotted our property.  We may be in big danger of not having a White Christmas.

After the hellacious winter we had last year, where we alternated snowfall with soul-sucking cold temperatures, above-freezing days, after what appeared to be an early, snowy and cold start to winter a month ago, is more than welcome.  In fact, I have been loving this weather, which reminds me of the fall, or of Seattle, or London.

One caveat: The overcast sky with threatening clouds settled in to begin the weekend, which coincided with me feeling like I'm having trouble breathing.  Maybe it was the exertion I had trying to get to the women's college volleyball regional at the U. on time on Friday, or maybe it was because I hadn't had anything substantial to eat that day.  But I still felt something, albeit less so, on my way to the Sports Pavilion Saturday.  Didn't feel it today, but I wonder if it was or is weather-related.

Regardless of possible health issues, I'm going to be sad to see this above-average, rainy weather disappear.  It should be gone as soon as Tuesday, if not today (Monday).  Some wintry precipitation is supposed to come in, and then, as usual during wintertime, that'll be followed by the cold.  Then we will have winter when it's actually supposed to be winter, unfortunately.  So I hope my walk through the neighborhood underneath the dark sky this (Sunday) afternoon was a proper way to show how I'm grateful for this unusual weather.