Here We Go Again

Today we will lose snow.  It's supposed to get into the forties. With the morning temperature currently at 39 degrees, I can see that will be easy to do.  The wind is gusting from the south, bringing that unwelcome warmth. It has torn brown seeds and fronds from the cedar trees, littering the ground beneath.  The snow looks old and tired, as though it has already spent a full season here.  It's difficult to take winter seriously when it pulls shenanigans like this.

My skis are laying in a heap, the secure snowbank foundation in which I had planted them now devoid of integrity.  The blankets of insulation that had covered our metal roofs have slid free, crashing to the ground in a thunder.  What felt like a huge step forward just one week ago currently has the smack of two steps back, in this slow road to the winter season.

That seems to be how the story goes in recent years.  We scurry like the small forest animals to get all of the chores done:  Docks in, boats put away--check! Firewood split and stacked--check! Summer bread oven tarp down, winter soup tent up--check?  Not quite.  The tarp has been down for weeks, but the tent still lies rolled up in its bag, stashed away in our storage building.  Could this be why the weather has turned again?

I'm a glass-half-full sort of person, and always have been.  Instead of strapping on my skis today, I'll be helping to put the metal framework together for the tent.  We'll insulate the floor with straw, slide the canvas over the frame, and secure it all against the wind.  Then I will string the Christmas lights on the lodge porches.  And I'll be able to do it all without freezing my fingers. 

This small reprieve from the cold won't be such a bad thing after all.  Winter will still come--with the same certainty that the  Whos down in Whoville possess, we all know it to  be true.  This is Minnesota after all, and the northern border at that.  The snow will get here.  In fact, I've already seen the first hint of a new snowstorm next weekend.  I read about it on Facebook.  And isn't that the place to get the all of the latest news these days?