Bad for the Earth, But Good While It Lasted
Jill D. Montgomery

I know that it is taking my life in my hands to admit that I loved the winter weather we had in December. I know that our economy is sure to be healthier in the north if it is aided by many feet of snow and the many feets of happy skiers.

I know that the unseasonable warmness points toward doom and destruction because of global warming. I know the ice cap is melting, coastal cities are sure to be swallowed by rising oceans, and we are going to be sucked into the hole in the ozone layer by the year 2525.

I know all this, really I do. I've been told constantly! If you watch TV at all, whether it's the Weather Channel, the news or the History Channel, you know that warm weather in the north during the winter months is bad! Really...

... but I loved it.

No bundling up in layers of long johns, a turtleneck and a jacket during Christmas shopping. This year I shopped with a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, and a happy heart. I raised my face to the sun, sucked in deep breaths of warm air and thought that this was the best Christmas weather I have ever seen in the 40-some-odd years of being in Vermont.

I was able to walk outside and exercise without fear of falling on the ice for far longer than usual this year.

My newly laundered sheets were able to hang in the backyard and come in smelling like fresh air and sunshine way past my usual expectations.

I was able to string Christmas lights without a blowtorch to thaw out my fingers.

The Christmas tree lasted longer than usual without most of the needles ending up on the living room floor, thanks to the fact that the wood stove didn't have to work night and day to keep the frost off the inside of the windows!

I could put off adding that extra blanket to the bed that makes it almost impossible to roll over. You know that final heavy winter blanket that holds you in place way after the alarm has gone off in the morning, signaling time to get up and out of that winter cocoon!

I didn't need to start my vehicle 20 minutes before I wanted to leave the house. Gone was the fear of not being able to see the road through the frosted windshield or feel my hands on the wheel while wearing a heavy pair of fur-lined gloves!

I enjoyed my poor mixed up yellow rose bush that bloomed past Thanksgiving, thinking that spring had already come back.

I enjoyed the warm weather, in the way that a child enjoys an unexpected Saturday off without having to help with the household chores. Both activities carry with them a sense of guilt, or maybe just the knowledge that sooner or later we are going to pay for this unexpected boon.

And sure enough, the cold weather came to our corner of Vermont, just as it always does. The cold came with a vengeance, and a rawness that took our breath away. Our nostril hairs froze, men's mustaches rimed over and we folks unfortunate enough to wear glasses found ourselves frosted over upon entering a building.

If it wasn't for the distant promise of clean spring breezes and the remembered smell of green, growing things to come, surely we would all either pack our bags and head for the nearest plane bound for the sunny south, or run screaming into the night. Or at the very least, the cold would make us want to hibernate for the next few months!

Jill Montgomery lives in Braintree where some of the family enjoys the winter weather but hibernating is starting to look better with each passing year to her!