Doesn’t really matter what the reason is, nor do I really care much. Ain’t complainin’, this warm, dry early winter has saved me dollars… and that’s all I care about. It’s kept the demand, and therefore prices for heating fuel in check, which keeps the prices for everything in check. Yeah, we’re gonna’ need some snow before spring or there are other problems to be concerned with… but spring is a long way off and an early wet spring offsets a dry winter. I worked my butt off in 2011 to get ahead on my firewood supply, and every day the weather remains warm(ish) puts me even further ahead.
I don’t own snowmobiles or ice fishing gear, I don’t sell heating fuel or firewood and I don’t plow snow for anyone but myself… I don’t hope, or wait for cold and snow. I live where I do for several reasons, one of which is that I like the change of seasons. I especially like mid-September to mid-November and mid-April to mid-June. But February-March can be long and agonizing when winter comes early, when winter comes late those months seem to breeze by… and as late as this winter is, I’m thinkin’ I’ll barely notice February. Yep, we may get pounded yet, ya’ gotta’ expect that livin’ where I do… but then again, we may not, which is more of a bonus. Cold and snow costs money, ain’t no way around it. If you sell firewood or plow snow ya’ may not be makin’ it, but ya’ ain’t spendin’ it either. And it’s hard for me to have a lot of sympathy for someone who depends on weather to make a living… weather is a huge risk, ya’ better have a contingency plan in place.
A few years ago they called it a “year without summer” around here. It was a cloudy, cool, wet summer where we wore jackets and sweatshirts even in July-August. It was as though we skipped summer, went from spring directly into fall… ain’t no reason why we can’t have a “year without winter” just to even things up. And it sure ain’t gonna’ make me believe the sky is fallin’…
