Annual battle between expectations...hope...and reality

"April is the cruelest month..." - T.S. Elliot. Truer words have never been spoken, at least in upstate New York. "May is not looking much better." - Dave Morford. Excuse me Mr. Elliot for tagging on to your famous quote but if there is a time to get away from here, this is it. Please understand, I like it here. Summer is glorious. The occasional "heat wave" broken by Canadian cold fronts bringing sunny warm days under puffy clouds and nights of "good sleeping weather". Fall is my favorite. Best holidays combined with spectacular scenery and just fantastic weather. Winter. Find yourself an open field or woodlot and hear the silence as the snow falls. Even the city's noises are muffled by thick blankets of white. But then there's Spring.

Typical "Spring" drive to work

Days shrouded in an endless cover of "battleship grey oblivion" (thanks Jim, best quote ever). There's dead grass and patches of mud. Crocuses, daffodils, and eventually tulips struggle against blasts of cold and snow. Potholes yawn in all roads delivering teeth chattering blows. Sure, you'll get teased with  a couple days of sun and warmth, but reality lurks with the next cut off low pressure system, seemingly attracted to New York. Or, it's a "backdoor" cold front sliding in from New England delivering damp and cold North Atlantic air while places as close as Philadelphia and Cleveland bask in warm air..

The poor Binghamton Mets, locked into their opening day by forces beyond their control have hideous weather for at least the first month of their season and struggle with attendance. Who wants to sit in the drizzle and fog at 40 degrees and watch baseball with a handful of other poor souls? Unfortunately, this lack of enthusiasm seems to carry over into the rest of the season making the B-Mets chronically among the poorest attended AA teams and sparking waves of rumors that they will leave town. When the weather does turn nice, numerous outdoor events pack nearly every night and certainly every weekend making them compete for fans. Other sports do well in this town. The Binghamton Senators hockey team thrives. A cold snowy night and a hockey game are a good fit. Anyway, we are definitely on the northern fringe of what could be called the climate zone for baseball.

Of course, "nice" weather is very subjective and a matter of personal opinion. Even when the weather generally turns "nice" in the middle or end of May, it's still not swimming weather. An annual right around here is the local paper posting Memorial Day pictures of little boys and girls shivering in bathing suits at the opening of pools for the season. Adults have normally learned their lesson and don't attend. Swimming season here typically extends from mid June to mid August. Memorial Day and Labor Day are pushing the season.

As far as the house is concerned, the weather definitely sets the schedule for repairs and maintenance. I've cut the grass for the first time with my little push mower and immediately decided that a riding mower is a necessity. I hope to have news on that soon. Planting grass in our bush and brush removal areas has been delayed by the weather. First, I'm looking for a good stretch of daytime highs 60 or better, and need to wait to seed the area near the house until after the walls get power washed. Any run off from the washing and trampling from the washers and ladders will definitely destroy fresh grass seedlings.

Spring fire

One advantage of a cold Spring? It's still fireplace weather. Cindy complained she was cold the other day so while she was off visiting her dad I got a nice fire going and got dinner ready. It was a date night at home with dinner, fire and movie. I guess the best way to fight bad weather is to embrace it and turn it to your advantage.