Oh, the Weather

a brighter day than usual, with contours in the sky

we're past the darkest, shortest days of winter, and the sun is rising and setting further north every day. the cold morning two weeks ago when we awoke to a sixteen degree freeze is but a memory. we've had a few frosts since at 30 degrees. even though it's generally warmer and lighter now the outside temp rarely gets above forty. the sky has been a dismal grey for eons and it drizzled all last night, who cares about that, and all day, when we care. i'm comfortable working outside in this weather, mostly. i have warm clothes and shoes and nice insulated work gloves. the battery in my truck gave out last saturday, so i got a new one and brought it home to install. i can't wrench in gloves. the tools were all about 38 degrees. brrrrrr on the hands. the greenhouse project is now at the tedious stage of little finishing touches, like making it air tight. well, airtighter than it was. i like working in it when the rain is falling. i don't like walking back to my shop in the rain to get tools or more parts, a trip i make often.

so we are into the endless northwest drizzle season, when the uniformly grey sky sky yields no clue about the time of day. 10 am? 3 pm? who knows. there are small signs of spring like narcissus, crocus, and hyacinth sprouts, but it is hard to stand and appreciate them in a windy drizzle. have i overused "drizzle" yet? even though i have done some garden prep and planted asparagus roots, working outside isn't the same as enjoying a walk outside and we are not drawn to walk in any of our favorite places. RD cleaned up quite a bit of the landscaping around the pond two days ago, while i was weatherproofing the greenhouse. then we retreated inside. we did take our neighborhood walk, bundled up snugly, but the wind was nippy on our ears and we cut our walk short when the grey sky got darker and rain looked imminent.

we are ready for spring.