And on the day after Earth Day, my dear wife Karen and I wake up in the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city Eastwood neighborhood to a reminder that spring can still be mean.
I’ll call it a dusting.
The new flowers and greening lawn were hit with overnight snow. It stuck. The temperature now at 8:45 a.m. reads 37º F. The local TV weather fellow says to expect at least 20 degrees below the norm for today and Friday.
Snow avoiding it.
Did I mention the snow stuck pretty good? Yes, it will melt. The wipers will whisk it away from the car windshield. Mother Nature will still do what she wants. Besides, watching the network portion of the news, I see that other parts of America are getting much more severe swats from her today. Earth Day did not appease. Nor quick fix. But let’s not stop striving.
What’s the weather where you live today? Are you experiencing violent swings this season, and if so, what have they been? What little or big things do you do to better your relationship with Earth?
Mark Bialczak 
“April is the cruelest month…”
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Yes, it was, Cat.
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Our snow globe is almost empty, finally.
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Hooray at last, Martha, up there in the hills. 🙂
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Mr. B, you have been so busy writing – I am SOOOOOOOOO behind! I had a rough couple of days with the case of the blues and a swollen knee. But…all is better now thanks the heavens above!
We got a bit of snow but it did not stick! NO MAS POR FAVOR!
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No mas, por favor, si, Mrs. B. I’m glad you got rid of the blues. my friend. And the swollen knee, too, I hope, is better. 😉 Let’s get warm.
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I still miss “some” of the snow, Mark. But I do recall one year when the last snow was on Mother’s Day – which, I believe, was on May 12th that year. When I opened our drapes and saw the white stuff, I screamed. But the cool nights were always a blessing. 😉
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I remember the infamous Mother’s Day snow year, Judy. Ugh.
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I’ll never forget it, Mark. 😉
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At least your unseasonsable snow is pretty… We’ve had rain and more rain. 😦
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It was pretty, Rachel. Pretty cold for April. 😦 Sorry you are being rained out.
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Hi, we had quite severe cyclone-like storm in Sydney this past week, and it is now hailing in some parts. But not where we are. We had black clouds this afternoon, but *I think* they have passed over. I have never lived in a part of the world where there is snow 🙂
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/sydney-weather-hail-storms-batter-sydney-20150425-1mt1rk.html
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I will take our snow over you cyclone-like storms, Vonita. We complain about the snow all the time, but we plow it and shovel it and mostly go on with our lives. The cyclone and winds appear to be more dangerous to me. We get hail sometimes here, too. I say, wear a helmet if you must go outside. 😦
Someday I hope you get to see snow. First-timers love its beauty.
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Thank you, it snows in the mountains and there is a ski resort, so have seen snow, but not where I reside. This has been the worst cyclone-type storm in sydney, but some times there are bush fires or floods or droughts throughoit Australia. Johannesburg has the best thunderstorms ever, you can feel the tension building in the air, black, heavy clouds forming and then the storm will hit in the afternoon, it is really awesome, but we don’t seem to have those type of storms here in sydney.
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I have felt the electricity in the air from lightning storms, Vonita. It has made the hair on my arms to stand up. And I felt the charge when the satellite dish on the roof of our house got struck by lightning.
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We’ve had a cold week and I am applauding a balmy 61 degrees today–after snow yesterday! Crazy:). Hang in there. We’ll get our deck time sooner or later.
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The ups and downs of late April, Kay. You are right. We will get our just due outside pleasures. 🙂
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Mark, terrible Pictures….;-)
I guess thats typical April weather!
here in Stockholm its sunny today-but last night it was below zero….
i keep praying every night that my plants and seeds on my balcony will survive!!!
Have a nice weekend and I hope we both have a nice weather!
/a
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I now am rooting for the life of your plants and seeds over there, too, Anna. Come on, warm weather! 😮
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Yeeesss!!! We want it warmer!
Today cloudy and windy here in Stockholm…
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Oh! Today it’s sunny and a bit warmer in Syracuse. It’s supposed to reach 50º F today, Anna. A little better for a Saturday. Yay!
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First of May today and its rainy and Cold! But at least no snow!
have a great weekend Mark!
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we had a big swing to the cold side, last night too. snow ‘a flying, but nothing sticking, happily. supposed to slowly warm up once again. c’mon mother nature —
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Yes, c’mon Mama, we want to be warm!
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I was shocked to see the dusting of snow this morning (then again, I should never be shocked to see snow in Syracuse, even in June). But, the white-out in the middle of the afternoon was uncalled for.
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You see a white-out at this time of year.and you just must shout, oh, sheet! At least I do, Debbie. Tough to see, it is.
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Snow?! Good grief. .. enough already. Warming up here quite steadily. Pool weather, I’ll admit. Hang tight, Mark.
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Get in your best bathing suit and take a dip, Aud. You earned it!
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*shudders* Bathing suit?! I should go run. Thanks for reminding me.
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Oops. Didn’t mean to frighten you, Red.
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Ugh. So sorry to hear that Mark, running to open the door at the border to share our warmth with you! Snow avoiding it – clever! ❤
Diana xo
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😉 Let the sunshine in, Diana.
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feel like I owe you an apology for mentioning that i couldn’t quite believe you didn’t have snow in the comments yesterday. The weather must have been eaves dropping and sent some your way just to prove that it’s in charge 🙂
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No, I don’t blame you, Rachel. 🙂 There are more evil forces at work than that. 😉
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Sending warm thoughts your direction. We are enjoying overcast and rain showers interspersed with sunshine on the other side of the country. It will arrive soon!
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Enjoy it, Fannie, and thank you for waving it in our direction. 🙂
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Yes, I agree, it is Al Gore’s fault! haha! That’s a bummer Mark!
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Yes, PJ, but Al made up for it by inventing the Internet, right? 😉
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Hahaha! That was hilarious and he will never live that down. But it is his fault for all the viruses.
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I thought Tipper tried to censor all of those, PJ!
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Sorry, who’s tipper?
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Al’s wife, Tipper Gore, who tried to censor music CDs when he was VP!
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Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious!! Hahaha
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Hey Marky-mark…. Yes Mother Nature has her own plans. Here in va we just had rain… And plenty of wind. Have a nice day and stay warm
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Thank you, Pulaskiiii. Y are you putting on so many I’s? Hahaha. You keep warm and dry, Y don’t you? 😉
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Colder than usual. Windy all this week. (But no snow…still, yet, you know. 😛 )
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Yes, still, it’s only April, Joey. 😮
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brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
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Yup, Chuck.
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We’re still waiting on rain, it just doesn’t want to make an appearance.
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Please, Mother Nature, send your moisture makers to visit Dora and her Southern California neighbors.
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Spring certainly is a vixen, Mark! Smiling at your being more positive then I may have been awakening to a dusting of snow! Cold but sunny today. My younger brother, the racer/teacher is going camping this weekend with my grandson, Skyler and his Boy Scout troop. I hope they won’t freeze to death and end up in the car! ha ha!
I am off to see the eye surgeon for my 6 months check up. I am hoping to get a better ‘excuse out of heavy bulk’ letter but am not positive he will choose to do so. My optometrist wrote such a good one except for the final line about my switching to glasses to drive a double pallet-rider. Who wants to switch to do these duties? NOT me! Have a fantastic weekend and will check back on Friday eve. or Sat. morn.!!
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Robin, I hope the letter comes out just the way you need it to stay right where you are in the Advance Warehouse. Of course, your bosses should have the eyesight themselves to realize that one size does not fit all as far as job reversatility requirements are concerned. 😦
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Mother Nature just keeps teasing you Mark. Hang in there. She will right herself soon. 🙂
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She likes to tap us on the shoulder to prove she’s still the boss, Colleen. 🙂
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Wow, you just can’t get a break. I remember in the early 80s (approx.) we had a huge snowstorm in April in N.Y. I was in Brooklyn at the time. I remember you couldn’t even tell the streets from the curbs. It melted really quickly though. I wonder if it effected you??
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Yes, it affected us. And then there was the Mother’s Day snow of the early 80s that gave us a couple of inches that stayed all day, Marissa. Oy.
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I don’t remember that one! Maybe not in Brooklyn??
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She probably stayed upstate on that one, Marissa.
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Maybe! I think I would remember a Mother’s Day snowfall.
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Wore the down jacket this morning! Mother Nature is having mood swings!💊
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Yes, and you are smart to react to them, Cate. 😉
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Yep, looked the same at my house in beautiful suburban Buffalo. But that’s Ok – the ground was slightly frozen this morning, which reduced some of the mud when I took Cody out.
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Better for paw print spread inside, that’s for sure, Cordelia’s Mom. We have a great mat outside the back door, but Ellie B runs in right past it all the time. 🙂
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My daughter actually has all of her dogs trained to stop inside the door between the garage and the kitchen and wait to have their paws wiped off. I tried, but I wound up with a ton of mud on me, and Cody still managed to wiggle away before her paws were clean enough. Now I just Swifter the kitchen floor constantly – or pretend that the linoleum really is that muddy brown color. 🙂
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Ellie B wriggles away from the old towel treatment, Cordelia’s Mom. She does not like that at all. 😦 A big reason we went with Pergo for our new flooring that went over the beat-up hardwood was because of its brown look and easy care!
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A bit chilly here, but nowhere near cold enough for the white stuff. Still 18 years and counting since our last bout with April snow…
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Keep that streak up, Bill. As for me, I’m delighted with 10 and counting for my Mets. Knock on wood. Afternoon getaway game at CitiField vs. the Braves today …
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Not normally a Mets fan here, but I was tired of all the talk in the preseason about the Nats being a lock for the division. That kind of talk didn’t work do well for the Red Sox in 2012, and I loved seeing the experts explain how their preseason pick to win the World Series finished last in their division. I would love to see the Nats repeat that this year…. and an upstart Mets team would be a nice start towards that goal!
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Yes, I know what you mean about reverse expectations being a delight in Bizarro Baseball World. Of course, my dilemma here is that the Syracuse Chiefs are the Nationals’ Triple A squad. Ouch!
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I though I had put my sweaters away for the year, but no.
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I am so stubborn, Scott, that once I make the change, I stick to shorts and my light spring jacket. Some folks (maybe even my dear wife Karen) substitute stiubborn with more vivid descriptors.
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I found our snow yesterday strangely beautiful, watching as it snuggled in with the blooming flowers and buds on the trees. 🙂
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It is a sight for sore eyes to me, Donna. Make of that comment what you will. 😉
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April is the cruelest month. T.S. Eliot said so. Or maybe it was C.S. Lewis. J.K. Rowling? Nevermind. I blame Al Gore. For a lot of things. (ha ha ha)
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Yes, we can all say it, my friend. 🙂 No matter what we call it, the old Earth likes to kick our newbie butts in April.
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