Maintaining Seasonal Sanity Amid Reality

We never planned an outdoor picnic until at least the end of May.

Maybe, if the temperature held above 60 for a couple hours, Mom might make some sandwiches and we’d all go for a Sunday drive and have a car picnic. The waysides we would usually stop at weren’t opened yet.

For some reason, spring cleanup had to be done by around mid-May to be ready for Memorial Day. Mom hounded us to replace the storm windows with screens so she could open the windows, which reminded us that combination windows would be so much better. When Memorial Day weekend arrived, we weren’t even home. We were at our cabin in Wisconsin doing this all over again.

Before the end of May we didn’t dare tempt Mother Nature with outdoor events that clearly were meant for summer. The only exception was the May end-of-Sunday-School picnic.

To be safe, outdoor activities were scheduled from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Planning events outside those boundaries was just asking for trouble. It was a crap shoot even within those boundaries. Dad wouldn’t even start using the charcoal grill until June.

That Was Then, This Is Now

Well, that’s the way it used to be. The way the weather has been changing, maybe in a few years you’ll be able to plan an April picnic. In this part of the country the weather is always known to be weird. But lately, it’s been even weirder.

We now have warmer winters and hotter summers. Spring and fall are longer. Some folks around here might think that’s a step in the right direction. Kansas or Missouri weather, anyone?

What we’re told, however, is that these changes will be accompanied by more extreme weather – stronger storms, floods and drought. And as it gets even hotter south of us, people will migrate north. Wildlife is moving north already. Even bugs. Canada never looked so good.

I like a longer spring and fall, especially if you can have the windows open more often. I can use my gas grill most of the year. The only drawback is that just when spring is at its best, summer weather hits with a hot, humid vengeance requiring the closing of all windows and running the A/C until the day after Labor Day.

The opposite, of course, is a warm and comfortable November (even October) day that ends abruptly with the year’s first snowstorm, windows locked shut until April.

We can argue about the causes of the weird weather. But we need to deal with it no matter what. We’re certainly paying for it. One day you hear we’re in a major drought and the next, we have flooding after a major rainfall.

The Recent Evidence

According to information I gathered from ChatGPT, in the past 10 years, southeast Minnesota has seen increased precipitation and intensity, leading to flash flooding and increased erosion of our Driftless Area bluffs. Rains of 1-3 inches have become more common. This affects the flow of the Mississippi River, which has been both very low and very high during this time.

Winters are shorter. Average winter temperatures have increased five degrees. Minimum temperatures are rising faster than daytime highs. That’s enough to make for some tough snowmobile riding in southern Minnesota. It also causes more freeze/thaw cycles that destroy roads.

Springs are wetter now and allergy season is longer. Big storms come earlier and stronger, as evidenced by the recent hail and tornadoes. Summers are hotter. Rainfall has been more erratic, causing longer dry spells between intense storms.

Farmers have to deal with all of this, of course, which includes calculating when to do field work. Being able to plant earlier and harvest later has both advantages and risks.

We’re already adapting to climate change. If winter ends up being more like a really long fall, with only a few nuisance snowfalls, we might start finishing those fall projects.

I know that climate change is a very serious concern. But at my age, I freely admit that I’m in favor of more warmth and less shoveling without moving south. Most people my age would agree that we never expected these changes. Yet, I bet a few are wishing it would warm up even more. Except for those hot summers now.

Except for one late snowstorm, this spring has been so easy that I’m going to expect it every year from now on.

I sure hope Mother Nature agrees.