Daily Archives: 01/10/2012

When Life Gives you Lemons

Hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would consider an unseasonably warm and snow free winter “lemons”…but alas…that is how I feel. I am a New Englander through and through. I like my seasons long and unendurable, giving me cause to wish myself into the next one. Whether too hot, too cold, too much ice, or too much rain, it is part of being a New Englander to comment,  complain, obsess and fixate on the weather here.

Other than the two vicious and early snowstorms in October, any precipitation we have had has been in the form of rain. Cold, wet ,dreary rain. The bright side of winter is the snow, it makes even the coldest day seem bearable, and gives one a reason to curl up with a good book or a knitting project and veg on the couch guilt free. Rain does not give one a warm fuzzy curl up on the couch feeling. The snow also provides a lovely white blanket over all  the gardens that are now brown and dead and should have been cut back but weren’t because, after all, who would see them under all the snow?? GRRRRR.

More snow benefits…. It insulates the plants from the cold air temps and protects them from drying winds

It buries many smaller shrubs and evergreen perennials keeping them safe from marauding wildlife

It shows the tracks of said wildlife so I can hunt them down where they live

and you can sled, cross country ski and snowshoe over some of the finest land God ever created.

Well, you know the saying: “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. So, on the “lemonade” side  of things, we have been able  to be outside  pruning and stacking brush from the earlier storms, working  in our shirtsleeves and no gloves. This year will be the first time we have ever been able to burn brush in January, usually we can’t navigate the yard or even find the brush that has been buried under snow. I have also started some other cleanup and painting  projects out there, and we were able to clean the garage and load up the shed.

Back to the “lemons” side….no one comes inside all red cheeked to sit and warm up with a mug of hot cocoa while the mittens dry in front of the fire.

and while we are in “lemon” territory, let me celebrate , quite literally..LEMONs (or potential lemons anyway)

As you may  recall, Bill bought me an untagged lemon tree for Christmas last year from a vendor who shipped it unprotected in sub-zero weather. I thought for sure it was a goner, it placed it in the garage to await it’s fate. In a moment of weakness and guilt , I brought it inside and placed it in a sunny window where surprisingly it has flourished and come back to life. This week I noticed while watering that is was loaded with buds, which means flowers, and may eventually mean LEMONS!

That surely is a bright spot in this very gray, very ugly, very un-wintery winter.