What is a Groundhog to do

So yesterday was Groundhog's Day and it was sunny in the morning, so, as the story goes, we should have six more weeks of winter. But, here is the kicker, it feels like winter has already ended here. In fact, today it is sunny and 50 degrees outside. Jupiter and Jove went geocaching and I am tending to Miranda's recovery from a little respiratory illness last week.

It did not snow (a measurable amount: more than 1/100 of an inch) in New York City the entire month of January. Jove and I did snow dances, but they did not work. Jove has started telling everyone he sees, "It is winter right now, we just don't have any snow." And, I mean he tells everyone: the cashiers at the supermarket, the homeless man who sits outside our neighborhood library, his friends' mothers, etc. He is the beacon of seasonal discontent.

I read in the New York Times this morning that other cities nearby or near to my heart have had tons of snow so far: Detroit (26.5 inches) and Boston (30 inches). So I am thinking, why isn't it snowing in New York? I read on and the columnist states that "it has been cold enough and wet enough in New York, just not at the same time." This seems like a pretty lame explanation to me; I am left wondering if the columnist has no better scientific understanding or they think their readers couldn't understand a more complex explanation. I think planetary climate change is starting to change what seems normal and my kids memories of playing in the snow will be based on a occasional storm and not a season of the year when snow is on the ground.

I am not a huge fan of winter, in fact, it is my least favorite season. But I can tolerate gray skies, leafless trees and the cold in exchange for the wonder of snow and the appreciation of spring. Winter without snow seems intolerable.

I know winter is not quite over yet and I still have a sliver of hope that we will have at least one snowfall this year worthy of some outdoor romping around. Here are pictures from the last two years, in the top one, two feet of snow fell in twenty fours hours and in the bottom one it was the beginning of march when we finally got enough snow to make a snowman.