What the?...

Snowstorm one minute, then out in a dress shirt the next.


Just before I left for up north, I thought we must be having record heat days. It was 18 degrees plus for a few days in the last of November...this is a bit odd...but I wasn't complaining. Once I returned however, the weather was more seasonable...or so I thought. After a mild day earlier the week, we ended the night with a snowstorm that dumped twice as much snow as forecast...but, and get this, we had a lighting storm with it..?? Anyway...the next day I headed out for a much needed paddle...snow everywhere...and the lake water started freezing at the shore edges, as I paddling. All fun...I lasted a few hours, it all felt good. Then the weather turned ugly...rained for two days straight. When it ended yesterday evening, the snow had all melted and the temperature had climbed back up to over 11 degrees...a very, very nice evening...No need for a coat. Okay, so I should have gone for the first skiing of the year before that snow melted. But that's the thing...with the ice forming on the ponds a few days ago...I couldn't risk it. Once those lakes freeze over, it's a couple of hours of kayaking, one night a week, at the pool....I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I can still hope for some weather this winter that includes some calm ocean days for the winds...but I can't bank on it. The reason the weather is fluctuating like it is...well, that's what we get for being on an island way out in the North Atlantic, where the cold Labrador current and the warm Gulf stream meet...Depending on the systems moving through, you never know what you'll get....Twice this week, we had nearly a 20 degree shift in temperature in 24 hours...twice! Yes, today outside my window the thermometer reads -6c. So while the snow is gone, the jacket and gloves are back on. It's amazing we all don't get flues with this treatment. Winter....maybe best to pickle ones self in alcohol. Ha...