Winter predictors

Aside from the flights of Canadian geese headed towards Mexico, racking leaves and cleaning our garden, another related sign of winter's imminent arrival is when our living room bay window begins to let some mountain features in, as the leaves that hug the panes start to turn yellow and thin out. As winter gets closer, we're fortunate to see the local peaks back into our sights again.

This brings back to memory one seasonal family ritual we used to have and that perked up passions when our children were younger and still with us. We would have a contest that would reward the family member who could predict, or get the closest to the date when winter snow would finally arrive and stay on the ground. As far as I can remember, no one ever landed the exact day, but the winner always got sufficiently close to the date so that there was no need for argument or further contest.

This year, with only two participants, we decided to keep the friendly betting process alive. My wife said snow would come “early” November (vague enough for comfort, right? Her definition of “early” runs from the first to the tenth) while I set my prediction right on November 22nd. We'll see when it lands and who shovels first!