The Signs of Winter |
 Dave Thurlow, Host |
Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook. The true sign of winter for me is when the first snow starts falling here in New Hampshire. For commentator David Laskin of Seattle, WA, it's the misty rains that get him in the winter mood:
"I once read somewhere that Pacific Northwest natives marked the onset of the rainy season by blowing whistles to greet the spirits that drifted like mist through the immense black conifers. As the rains began again, native peoples settled in to a mystical season of wood-carving, story-telling and spirit quests.
Though the misty spirits have fled and most of the ancient firs and cedars fallen to ax and saw, there is still something mystical about the return of the winter rains to this part of the world. Perhaps 'return' is too emphatic, for the rains ease back gradually and shyly. First come the lingering fogs of October mornings. Then the gentle showers that barely penetrate the dense foliage but leave a fluid glaze on roads and cars. And then, one day in late November, the sky furrows its brow in earnest, the wind kicks up out of the southwest, and it rains like it means it for long slow darkening hours.
To me, the wet urgency of these deep, midwinter weeks is very precious and holy. Daylight is dim and brief. The blood is sluggish. Colors muted. Mushrooms, moss, mud, lamplight in the window, fire in the hearth, and the intermittent tap and gurgle of falling rain. It's a time a year for taking stock and counting your blessings, especially the blessings that fall freely and plentifully from the sky."
David Laskin is an author and weather enthusiast from Seattle, WA. The Weather Notebook is underwritten by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.