The shortest day of the year & odd weather in Le Bic
Two gray, rainy days in a row seem appropriate as we reach the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere.
The solstice this year coincides with a full moon: I hope it clears later tonight or early tomorrow morning so it's visible. Winter full moons are remarkable here in Western North Carolina, as low humidity often means the visibility is crystal clear.
An irony with the massive rain front that's now moving up through the Northeast is that it's stretching all of the way up into the Bas St. Laurent part of Quebec, where our small second home is, putting a veritable (and unusual, I think) damper on weekend and possibly Christmas-time skiing in the nearby national park and throughout the Northeastern U.S., for that matter.
The temperature is predicted to be 49°F on Saturday (!!!) with rain, then back down to the more normal 13°F/7°F on Christmas Day. Curious. There's hardly been a day above freezing since late November. A very odd pulse of warm air!
I'm glad we hadn't driven up for a snowy holiday week this year. It will be an unusually icy phase for them; normally, the snow doesn't melt after it starts falling!
I'm glad the days will start getting longer now. It's always welcome. We normally have traveled to warmer places in winter, often with much longer days -- in the Southern Hemisphere.
This year, we'll be keeping with the theme of experiencing winter, in a MUCH more wintry place than our home base in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
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| Winter greetings (wreath by Bekah Stephenson) |
The solstice this year coincides with a full moon: I hope it clears later tonight or early tomorrow morning so it's visible. Winter full moons are remarkable here in Western North Carolina, as low humidity often means the visibility is crystal clear.
An irony with the massive rain front that's now moving up through the Northeast is that it's stretching all of the way up into the Bas St. Laurent part of Quebec, where our small second home is, putting a veritable (and unusual, I think) damper on weekend and possibly Christmas-time skiing in the nearby national park and throughout the Northeastern U.S., for that matter.
The temperature is predicted to be 49°F on Saturday (!!!) with rain, then back down to the more normal 13°F/7°F on Christmas Day. Curious. There's hardly been a day above freezing since late November. A very odd pulse of warm air!
I'm glad we hadn't driven up for a snowy holiday week this year. It will be an unusually icy phase for them; normally, the snow doesn't melt after it starts falling!
I'm glad the days will start getting longer now. It's always welcome. We normally have traveled to warmer places in winter, often with much longer days -- in the Southern Hemisphere.
This year, we'll be keeping with the theme of experiencing winter, in a MUCH more wintry place than our home base in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Judy and I stayed for a week or so in Cap Chat, which is about 120 miles further northwest from Le Bic. You certainly went to a good place for a wintery winter.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be colder than anywhere we've been in winter for a LONG time -- thank goodness for the giant vintage wood stove and our abundant supply of wood (not to mention the convection heaters....)
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