Anemic Winter

Looking out the window this morning toward the hillside, I see snow and bare ground splotched erratically. The driveway is dull with gray ice. For you far-flung readers, here is a quote from NOAA’s forecast that repeats week after week like a mantra:

“Wednesday: Snow and sleet likely before noon, then rain and sleet likely between noon and 2 pm, then rain after 2 pm. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible.”
[Wednesday night and Thursday: Rain]
“Thursday night: Rain likely before 11 am, then rain and snow likely between 11 pm and midnight, then snow likely after midnight. Accumulation a tenth to a quarter of an inch.”

Then we enter a deep freeze for a few days. The remnant of old snow in the woods hardens again into a death crust, the thaw trickles on Falls Brook Lane turn to ice, and Wayne the plow guy who has no work calls the sand truck.

If only all that rain were snow….

What is this underachieving winter doing to sugar season? Stories drip in of so-and-so who has already made 500 gallons, of guys who boiled in December. We just don’t know, of course. In our case, we waited until February to tap and completed it in record time due to easy cruising in the woods.