Thursday, October 19, 2017

Throwback Thursday - The First Ice and the Last Flowers

I hope the blog post title didn't scare you.

No, I'm not trying to take a breather from the Ultimate Blog Challenge, although I had to drop out of another October challenge I was participating in, because "life happened".

Sadly, "life happened" to way too many people, including the daughter of someone I work with. The daughter lives in Santa Rosa.  Her house was spared but conditions are so terrible it is almost unbelievable.

There are millions of other people who could say the same thing.

I try to keep my blog an oasis to refresh oneself in.

But I decided to republish part of a blog post of October 12, 2012 today because that winter - which turned out to be quite harsh - is so unlike this fall, with its plethora of temperatures in the 60's and 70's.  Although much of this area had its first frost on Monday, our house escaped, as did where I work in downtown Binghamton, New York.

So, first, some pictures of the last couple of days.  And then, let's go back to October 12, 2012.

Is the weather telling us we will have a mild winter? Or are we in for something terrible?

Beautiful but, hey, this was taken on October 17.  Not that I'm complaining.  The tree to the left is a magnolia hardy in this area.  Hardly a sign of turning.

Not much fall here in downtown Binghamton, New York.  Trees are losing leaves without much color. Here, again on October 17, a tree is half bare and half "meh".
And the roses bloom on.

How about five years ago October 12?

The First Ice and the Last Flowers

In 1492, Columbus may have sailed the ocean blue.  But in 2012, on what used to be Columbus Day, we started our day in Binghamton, NY with ice pellets and ended up with a mad dash to get plants under cover for a predicted hard freeze.

A hard freeze - we haven't even had a frost yet!

Ice pellets?

Early spring, early fall.  And there is an old folk belief that the earlier the first hard freeze, the harsher the winter.
(Civil War monument, Courthouse Lawn, Binghamton, NY 10-12-12, photo courtesy of AM)
And a scene near where I took the pictures on October 17, 2017.

Now what?  It's scary, because the weather is out of control, and no one knows what will come next.

Day 19 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

11 comments:

  1. We shouldn't have a hard frost here in SE Michigan until November. IF you can trust the weather predictions.

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  2. Yes, I fear I won't be able to enjoy the fall foliage on Skyline Drive this year. It may have a 20 minute (instead of 20 day) window.

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  3. It is like that where I live as well and why so many people end up sick. It drives me up a wall. Although all I can say is its in Gods hands always.

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  4. Horrible, isn't it, that we are dealing with so many fires, floods, hurricanes, etc.

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  5. Love your pictures!
    Husby always says, "Every warm day is one day less of winter." We'll take it!

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  6. Looks like TEXAS Mother Nature has invaded NY. Great pictures and a reminder that one can't count on Seasonal weather to be the same year after year. The devastation of the weather and nature has been horrible for so many parts of the country this year.

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  7. I live in SC and with all the hurricanes we've had in the south and the fires in the west, plus the eclipse, I'm wondering what the winter will be like. I love your photos!

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  8. Hi Alana, I enjoyed this post very much. I have to remark about your statement, “Not much fall here in downtown Binghamton, New York. Trees are losing leaves without much color.” I just find it remarkable when someone says something in a blog that, even though in a far away part of the country, is precisely what I’ve been thinking about Fall here in Seattle. We had the wettest October through April ever recorded this past winter. Then we had the driest summer on record. I feel certain that this weather has affected our trees. Yes, there is color here and there but not like I’m accustomed to seeing in the past. Many, many leaves are just turning brown and dropping to the ground. I always find your blog to be interesting. Thank you for sharing and for your visits to my blog.

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  9. Beautiful pictures. I am noticing that our leaves are not very colorful here in western New York, either. It seems as if they are being separated from the tree by the force of high winds, rather than because they have changed color and it's time for them to go. It was warm today, however, albeit windy, and I spent four hours weeding a garden. It's nice to be able to do that in October.

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  10. Let's hope you end up with a mild winter :)

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  11. Our trees are just beginning to turn here, as much as our trees here do turn on the California Central Coast. Still in the eighties during the day. Cooler at night, but no frost of any kind yet. I think God uses weather to keep us humble, since we can rarely accurately predict it all the time.

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