To the Editor:

I had some good ideas for today.

But it seems my muses have run away,

Hiding somewhere under cover,

Leaving me behind like a jilted lover.

Wait, wait! One came back,

With a smile on her face

Bringing hope to this writer

Who was such a sad case.

She told me to start with some terse verse

Because sometimes a few lines say plenty.

Then talk about the Infinite Winter

That happened in Two Thousand Twenty.

Here are 3 North Country “chestnuts”

That have been roasting on my inner fire.

Listen as they sing their words of wisdom,

Caroling like a seasonal choir.

Here in the North Country

The first day of Spring

And the first Spring day

Are not the same thing.

What do an old mattress

And St. Lawrence County

Have in common?

Neither one has very much Spring.

We do have four seasons

Here in the North Country:

Early Winter, Mid-Winter, Late Winter

And the 4th of July weekend

Hard to believe?

Yes, but it’s true.

The proof’s in the pudding,

So I’m putting down the fact for you:

At dawn on March twenty-first,

The first full day of “Spring,”

Arthur Mometer said 16 degrees.

Now ain’t that a funny thing?

The next morning,

On the twenty-second,

The temperature was 10!

Now how do you reckon?

A dawn above freezing

Was hard to seek.

For that to happen,

We had to wait a full week.

April 10th was then upon us.

Surely warmer winds must blow.

But what really fell upon us

Was an inch or more of snow!

Friday the 13th fell on a Monday.

Yes, the temperature was 63,

But with rain and gale-force winds all day,

We just sat around and watched TV.

Two days later, Old Man Winter said.

“I really should go home, I know,

But I’m having so much fun with you,

Let’s have another day of snow!”

And snow we did receive,

For three days in a row, in fact.

Then it went away for four,

But after that, the snow was baaack!

3 or 4 inches on April 22nd.

I must say, I never saw the like.

Not a good day to work on my tan

Or go for a ride on my bike.

But I did go outside that day.

To keep myself forever young,

I tilted my head to look up at the sky

And caught some snowflakes on my tongue.

Most nights were very chilly

In the first half of May.

Six nights were in the 20s

And 3 times snow came our way.

May 20th brought a strange event.

A wintry 39 degrees at dawn.

By afternoon, it was almost 80

With sunshine spilling on the lawn.

OK, so what happened to Spring?

Is summer here? Apparently it’s true.

We’ve now had a week of warmer weather.

I guess this Winter is finally through!

[Oooops! Update on weather predictions:

Did I speak too soon? What can I say?

Nighttime lows may be in the 30s

For the very last weekend in May.]

J. W. Ohst

West Pierrepont