SHIRTLESS IDIOTS AT YESTERDAY'S PLAYOFF GAMES WOULDN'T HAVE HAVE BEEN A BIG DEAL
Yesterday, January 6, I walked to the gym in the morning in the same clothes I wore at the gym: shorts and a t-shirt. And it was comfortable. Then, Mrs. Mike & I spent most of the day strolling around in Central Park. I wore jeans this time with a t-shirt. I decided to cover up with a light, long-sleeved shirt in the mid-afternoon when the January sun began to slip beneath the trees and buildings. And it was comfortable.
We saw what looked to be cherry blossoms blooming, with bees buzzing around the young flowers. I'm no botanist, so I can't say for certain they were cherry blossoms. But no expertise needed to know a flower or a bee when you see one. Flowers & bees in January.
As we walked home from the subway at about 5:30 -- in the pitch-black January night -- it was such a lovely evening, we actually thought it might be nice to sip a beer on the back porch. We opted not to, as nothing out there is clean/ready for use in January. But it would've been comfortable.
Perhaps this is all a sign of the greatest global disaster to befall earth since the last Ice Age. Maybe an iceberg that could sink 1,000 Titanics has broken off the arctic ice shelf and is heading south, melting as it goes. Maybe my backyard's underwater as we speak. Maybe Pat Robertson was right, but just got his dates mixed up.
I'm no scientist, I don't know. But yesterday was great, and I'm not complaining.
We saw what looked to be cherry blossoms blooming, with bees buzzing around the young flowers. I'm no botanist, so I can't say for certain they were cherry blossoms. But no expertise needed to know a flower or a bee when you see one. Flowers & bees in January.
As we walked home from the subway at about 5:30 -- in the pitch-black January night -- it was such a lovely evening, we actually thought it might be nice to sip a beer on the back porch. We opted not to, as nothing out there is clean/ready for use in January. But it would've been comfortable.
Perhaps this is all a sign of the greatest global disaster to befall earth since the last Ice Age. Maybe an iceberg that could sink 1,000 Titanics has broken off the arctic ice shelf and is heading south, melting as it goes. Maybe my backyard's underwater as we speak. Maybe Pat Robertson was right, but just got his dates mixed up.
I'm no scientist, I don't know. But yesterday was great, and I'm not complaining.
posted by Mike at 9:28 AM
14 Comments:
Something's up. The past week here in Southern California has been extraordinarily cold and windy, in the low 50s. The wind has an arctic chill to it.
Something's up.
I think it's Pat Robertson. Maybe his predictions-cum-wishes are coming true.
And since it's the Northeast & California we're talking about here, that makes it all the more likely.
Unfortunately the cherry blossoms will probably catch a cold spell before spring. I enjoy the winters too, except the days are shorter. It seems to me that summer carries later into the fall each year, and winter, if there is one at all, is confined to a couple weeks in late January. The summers are becoming long and intolerable. I hope that 'berg doesn't land on your porch.
Yeah, it always makes me sad when I see out-of-season blooming. Cause you know there'll be dead plants before long. I only wonder if that affects the real spring blooming in a negative way.
It can, especially on fruit trees. I have a tree (bradford pear) out back that keeps leaves almost year 'round. When it doesn't have leaves it immediately puts on buds. The cold doesn't seem to hurt it even if it blooms early, but not all trees are so frost resistant. My pin oak out front will never get hurt by a late cold snap. It could be a hundred degrees in May and that thing wouldn't put on leaves. Late bloomer, I think I must've bought one of those yankee oaks and it won't change its ways. :-)
I only wonder if that affects the real spring blooming in a negative way.
Yes, it can. As Mort said, it depends on the frost resistance of the tree. I've never heard of an instance where North American temperature zone trees have double blooms. And for clarification, I define a "double bloom" as two sets of flower cycles in the same year. AFAIK, it's one and done. So, if a frost comes through and kills the premature flowers, they're done for the year.
While this really won't bother the most of the trees themselves, it can be crippling economically. If all the apple blossoms come and go before any germination happens, goodbye apple crops.
So, based on what both you guys are saying, this insanely warm winter could affect spring blooming on trees and perennials?
Yes, an early spring followed by a return to harsh winter weather can be quite damaging. Ice storms are really bad for trees too.
It's supposed to be 80 in Santa Barbara tomorrow, so so much for the Southern California "cold snap."
It's supposed to be 80 in Santa Barbara tomorrow. That doesn't sound too unusual. I thought it was 75 & sunny in Santa Barbara every day of the year.
this insanely warm winter could affect spring blooming on trees and perennials?
It could. Depends on how long it lasts and how warm it stays. Last forecast I saw called for reasonable cold temps during the middle of the week but warming up again by the weekend.
What happened to all the snow??? When I was a kid, every year we got a new pair of snowpants to go out and play in. 20 odd years later, and we barely get snow anymore... let alone a good reason to buy today's kids snow pants or ourselves a snowmobile.
WHOO-HOO! It snowed yesterday!We got a grand total of....3/4ths of an inch, and most of it melted today:P
Here in Michigan,
I've seen buddings,but no real flowering(thank God).fortunately, most of the bugs are hibernating.
However, I live in the SE portion of the State, Monroe County, probably the mildest in terms of MI climes, even so, tempertures do get down to -20 F every two/three years.
The current warming trend worries me for another reason, ticks.
The Michigan areas I grew up in almost totally lacked ticks.The only arachoids I saw other than spiders were these little fuzzy red mites that fed on forest detritus.
Five years ago, I woke up feeling a crawling something in my bed...ever since, I've had an abiding abhorrence of ticks.Without the cold winters that have hard initial frost, snow, thawing and hard freezing, that make southern Michigan so unique, I'm worried that we will have to deal with ticks just like everyone else.
(No offense intended)
I remember going down into Tennessee and everyone telling me to check for ticks.I had one jammed beneath my wristwatch, a big fat white sucking repulsive horror.My dog was constantly being combed and picked of ticks.In Michigan, ticks simply were not here, at least in any noticible numbers.I know, because I was always combing my dogs for burs and pickerseeds.
Not once have I ever see ticks until roughly five years ago.I haven't seen too many on my dogs since then, but the fact they're there at all worries me.
I guess what I'm saying is, I notice short-term as well as long term trends, it's not a matter of what feels right(that's just of course a personal view)it's a matter of a realization that I'm living in a period of great ecological upheaval, I _see_ it every year walking in the woods,edgelands,open areas, etc.
What happened to all the snow???
It snowed yesterday!We got a grand total of....3/4ths of an inch, and most of it melted today
There you go. Patience, patience.
Ticks. Yecch.
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