Frosted

I’m keeping a close eye on the 10 day weather forecasts lately. My concern is not for anything that’s about to fall out of the skies: I’m solely focused on the nighttime temperatures. Thirty-two degrees equals death. My wish is that the chirping insects and late blooming flowers get the longest pardon possible.

For good or not so good, luck is a huge factor in all our lives. If a September frost occurs, it reduces a yard to a shriveled, wilted mass of vegetation. Many warm Fall days might follow, but the damage is done…irreversibly.

Frostless Fall nights are a special present from nature. Winter in our part of the globe is not for the non-stoical. Any delay in the onslaught of subzero temperatures, icy roads and endless gray skies is welcome.

I consulted the Wisconsin Average First Frost Date Map to see the scientific data. According to weather history, my little town is in the danger zone now, October 11 to October 20. However, I have reason to hope for a small reprieve. Our front yard is Lake Michigan which has been heating up all summer. Now the opposite of “cooler by the lake” is happening. Our temperatures will be warmer from those even a half-mile inland thanks to the lake effect.

But this will only delay the inevitable. One of these mornings we’ll wake up to a world without flowers.

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