Photo of the Day: Just Too Soon for Spring

When I was a lad in the early Seventies, a popular margarine commercial’s tagline was, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” And, indeed, the lady decided to have her revenge on us this year—first with a major tease, with a couple of days recently hovering around 70 degrees, and then the blizzard that hit the Northeast coast these past 24 hours. The storm occurred just a week before spring. Grrrr.

On Facebook, a number of New Yorkers seemed rather disappointed that, after all the hype, they got virtually nada in the Snow Department. But it was all a matter of where you were, and where Mother Nature deemed to vent her fury.

I took the picture you see here around 10:30 this morning. When I got back inside the house, the newscasters were saying that my town, Englewood, NJ, had 6.2 inches. It felt like more—and, in short order, there was more. Within half an hour of this picture being taken, you would never have known I had stepped out the door grimly, shovel in hand.

About 4 o’clock, I returned. As I dug in, I took a quick estimate. Well, it wasn’t any deeper than the morning. But, after a few minutes, it sure felt like it. In the several intervening hours, a layer of sleet had been added to the mixture, adding to the burden. As bad as I felt, I consoled myself with the thought that at least I wasn’t one of those people who had to drive today, with the roads being positively treacherous.

Early tonight, the meteorologist on my news station said Englewood had received a grand total of 10.5 inches. It felt worse—maybe 1.5 inches more—and, as I looked outside, it was worse. Again. Oh, they were just “flurries.” But for me and the various neighbors who’d spent so much time digging out, we didn’t want to see one single speck of the white stuff again—even if Mother Nature is peeved (about being fooled, about climate change—pick your poison).