So the temperature dropped to subfreezing levels yesterday-- for the second time!
"Oooh! It's so cold. I heard that a lot yesterday. One would think the people who are complaining about the weather had just gotten off the plane from the Caribbean. Truth is, we should've had a few more subfreezing days by now. And, after a Christmas Eve on which the temperature climbed to 21C (72F) and nearing that level the following day and week, we were spoiled, really.
So far, we haven't even come close to experiencing anything like this
or this
or this
What if all of the complainers were Nuvanit instead of New York?
The Winter Solistice will come at 11:48 pm--just twelve minutes before midnight--in this part of the world. As I'm not a Druid, I'm not going to engage in some ritual or another unless I'm at Stonehenge--which doesn't seem likely. It's hard to think of the coming of winter when the early-morning low temperature was higher than the typical high temperature for this day, and is still climbing well after sunset.
What's even stranger is that weather forecasters say the weather will continue to get warmer all the way until Christmas Eve, when the high temperature is projected to pass the old record (17C, or 63F) for the date by about 5C, or 8F. Christmas Day is predicted to be almost as warm.
That leads me to wonder whether we'll have an exceptionally mild winter--or whether we'll have this spell of warm weather before temperatures plunge and we have a major snowstorm some time after New Year's Day.
In other words, will my winter rides look like this:
or this?:
I was riding in shorts and a short-sleeved top.
No, I didn't start my holiday visit to my parents in Florida early. (Actually, in their part of Florida, there is no guarantee I'd have such weather at this time of year.) Rather, I took a ride which I've ridden (and written about) a number of times: to Point Lookout and back.
The temperature reached 20C (68F). For some perspective, the old record for this date was 16C (62F), which was surpassed before 11 am.
Interestingly, it didn't feel as warm as I'd expected. Some of that had to do with the wind, which, coming from the southeast, I pedaled into most of my way out. Also, riding by the sea, where local water temperatures are around 10C (50C) makes the air seem cooler. For perspective, in early August, the water temperature reaches 23-24C (72-75F) and in early March falls to 3-5C (37-40F).
On such a pleasant Sunday, I wasn't surprised to see more people than one would normally expect to see at the beaches. They weren't swimming, but I noticed that some people weren't wearing much more than I was. Also, a pretty fair number of young men (mostly) clad in wetsuits rode the waves.
I don't mean to boast when I say that even though I was pedaling into winds of 8 to 12KPH (14 to 20 MPH) most of the way out, I was pedaling rather effortlessly in my big chainring and on the sixth and seventh gears of my nine-speed cassette. Am I starting to regain some of my old strength? Or was it because I just felt so good to be on my bike on such a beautiful day? I would be happy to accept either explanation, or no explanation at all.
Everything was so lovely that even seeing brown and yellow stems and leaves didn't seem so discordant with the spring-like warmth.
Nor did the almost-winter light or the shortness of the day.
And I was riding Arielle. Even a name like that is enough to make me feel as if I'm flying. But, she's a great ride and, of course, the wind into which I rode on my way out pushed at my back and carried me home.
I really should have been grading papers. Oh, well.
