Happy Winter!

Happy Winter, my northern hemisphere friends! Like it or not, the season is officially here. If you are wondering what to expect weather-wise, there is plenty of advice and caution out there in folklore-land.

Here are 10 examples:

If October is warm, February will be very cold. Check.

Neighbor's cattle

The closer the new moon is to Christmas Day, the colder the winter will be. New moon was Wednesday, so kinda close...

If there was a big berry crop, the winter will be cold. Berries did very well in our area this past summer.

A heavy mast means a bad winter ahead. Check--the acorns were thick on the ground this fall.

What kind of weather did you have on October 9? Sunny=cold, hard, winter. Rainy=mild winter. I can't remember for sure, but I believe it was sunny here.

Ancient texts reported the belief that the weather for the entire year was settled during the twelve days between winter solstice and New Year's Day. During that time, the sages said, earth rested and laid the groundwork for the coming year.

When leaves fall early, winter will be mild. When leave fall late, winter will be severe. They fell late here, that's for sure.

A warm November is a sign of a bad winter. Very warm, it was.

If there is thunder during Christmas week, the weather will be anything but meek. We shall see!

If the first snow falls on unfrozen ground, winter will be mild. Our first snow was on unfrozen ground, so this is a good sign!

a cabin along my road

If a cold August follows a hot July, winter will be cold and dry. Can't say this was true this year; the weather both months was not as hot as usual.

So, what does this portend for you? And the most pressing question: do any of these outweigh the others in importance/significance? Most of the signs for my area point to a bad winter, but there are a few favorable to mild weather.

And of course, the old sayings did not take global warming into account. Perhaps we will need to come up with some predictions of our own now?

Since I like winter and its snow and cold, I'm happy with whatever comes. We can't change it, so the best thing is to hunker down and enjoy the season of quiet and rebirth. And watch to see if the old ones knew what they were talking about!

My house in winter

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.