Like Being Nibbled to Death by Ducks

~ M.A. Kropp

That’s winter here in southern NY. We get cold weather, of course. Lately, it’s been in the mid to upper-twenties. We did have a winter thaw a week or so ago when temps got up into the 40s. (That’s Fahrenheit, of course) But the snow— oh, the snow. What we get is dribbles. An inch today, half an inch tomorrow. Next week, maybe 2 inches. A dusting every morning. It’s annoying in a way because there’s just always this little bit of snow falling but it never really accumulates too much. Mind you, I do not miss the nor’easters of our New England days, nor do I want 6-10 inches or more falling at a time. Yeah, I know- sounds like a bit of a “have your cake and eat it, too” thing. It’s just that sometimes, sometimes, I kind of wish it would just snow, you know?

And the gray, cloudy skies… That I do not like at all. It is sunny today (Saturday 1/17) as I type this, but that’s not really the norm around here. I also suspect we may see clouds by the end of the day. That’s not unusual, either. I do miss the sunny, bright blue sky winter days in New England. Or any time of year days, really. Cloudy and overcast is more the usual here. All those times people were out seeing the Northern Lights in areas they are not usually visible? We had clouds. Meteor showers? We had clouds. Ah, well, it is what it is, as they say.

We ran out of printer paper this week. That’s– weird. We don’t normally do that. I mean, we don’t print a lot of stuff, so a ream lasts us a while, but I am usually aware when it’s starting to get low. The printer stand is here in my office, so I see it all the time. I was printing some receipts and things I need to get Starr’s town license changed to spayed female, and take Lambeau off our list so we don’t get charged for his license, and– no paper! It’s a silly thing, but it feels strange. I will fix that this week, of course.

So, now it is mid-January. Feels like the winter has both sped by so fast, and also crawled on like, well, molasses in January! I look forward to the slow progress of the daylight lasting longer, and the beginning of new growth as the warmer months approach.

I hope you all have a lovely week!