Winter Scene in New Haven. Connecticut, George Henry Durrie (1858)

ALMOST everyone would like the last month of winter to be more like the first month of spring or maybe the last month of summer to be more like the first month of fall. But no one wants to see the first full month of autumn become more like mid-winter. 

The snowstorm that hit our area this weekend was an unprecedented event. Some trees had still not changed color. The sight of an oak tree with green leaves and snow is disorienting. Leaves are part of a tree’s periodic immaturity. A tree that is juvenile in June is ancient in November. By early winter, a tree becomes wise and wizened, mature enough to handle the tribulations of cold and ice. Many a tree in October is no more prepared for snow than a teenager is ready for mortgage payments.

By last night, leaves that were still green or gold were loaded with snow that was so heavy, massive branches drooped to the ground. Many snapped instantly. The roads were littered with downed limbs and many people lost power. The party was broken up. The authorities came and told everyone who was enjoying autumn to go home.

Normally, the first snowstorm is exciting, but this wasn’t exciting, it was strange. It was a premature end to the season. The flames of fall were doused with buckets of ice.

                                                        — Comments —

Bruce writes from England:

We have had two very hard winters in a row with weeks of sub-zero temperatures – that has never happened in my (50 year) life; and we had heavy snow starting in early November last year, which has not happened here in living memory. 

If we get another such winter, I think we may be heading for an Ice Age – I’m serious. The sun is apparently very inactive at present, and that is where all our heat comes from (except volcanoes). 

But of course, the sun may liven-up again – who knows? No human can predict the climate!

Nov. 5

Karen I. writes:

The early winter storm wrecked havoc on my state in the Northeast. 

I just got the power back today after five freezing cold days in the dark without heat or hot water. It was so cold, we had to go to a shelter at night, which is something I never thought I’d have to do. We simply could not stay in our home as it is an apartment and generators, kerosene heaters, etc. are not allowed. There was a terrible amount of suffering in my area and I don’t think it made the news. Neighbors who did not have much gas in their cars were stranded after the power went out and the gas stations were offline. One woman told me she spent three days in a freezing apartment with four children who had bronchitis because she did not have enough gas in her van to get off the hill we live on. I did not know sooner, or I would have helped her. Another woman was taken by our apartment complex manager to the shelter after she told him her children were getting very hungry after running out of food the day before. Many children in the area are coughing or otherwise sick now. When Wal-Mart reopened in a nearby town, I went there to try to find some propane to run our camp stove during the day. I heard an exhausted looking young woman who was pushing a small boy in a cart talking on a cell phone. She was saying that the boy was sick with a fever and a bad ear infection. The doctor told her to give him Benadryl to help him sleep, she said, and the doctor told her to take some to get some rest, too. I was not able to cook a proper meal for my children for five days and we relied on things like soup, sandwiches and macaroni to survive. 

There was not a single functioning gas station or grocery store in my town for three whole days. The pharmacy was closed for four days. Trees are still down everywhere, with some hanging on power lines. Many of the trees that remain standing look deformed because they lost so many branches. Some power lines were down in the road and all the traffic lights were out. It looks like a bomb hit my town. The National Guard was called in to help and it looked like a war zone when their trucks started rolling by the debris. 

Interestingly, in all the chaos, traditional roles were quickly assumed. The local female politicians cared for people at the shelter, setting up cots and serving hot soup to the freezing people who came in. The men got into trucks to clear the debris with chainsaws, and men drove in trucks from all over the country to restore our power. We are very grateful for their hard work. Some people hung up signs saying “thank you” to them. 

It was so bad, Halloween was canceled. There was no trick or treat for any of the kids, who sat in the cold and dark instead, their carefully chosen costumes unused. I think that most of the children who went through this are a little bit traumatized. My usually stoic son suddenly started crying in a laundromat when we finally found one that was open in another town. My daughter went to use the bathroom today after the power came back, but stood outside the dark room instead of going in and turning on the light. I asked what was wrong and she told me she was waiting for me to bring the flashlight. Both my kids looked pale and exhausted even after a three hour nap today. I am hoping a weekend of real food and warmth will help turn things around.

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