Two-Season Merge

In the same way that an intense dream is nearly indistinguishable from reality upon waking, the Catskills have merged the essence of before and now - or now and not yet. Autumn and winter or winter and spring.

Is it autumn and winter? Or winter and spring?

It's hard to tell lately exactly which season it is. Is it winter? spring? fall?
There is snow and ice, emblematic of a Catskills winter. Yet the climbing temperatures every other week accompanied by rain seem determined to announce an early spring.

This magical looking tree can be found at The West Branch Preserve in Hamden. It has withstood  many cyclical weather changes and is a thing of childhood dreams.

The seemingly wild fluctuation is nothing new - the Catskills have been experiencing this flip-flop pattern for the past several years. 
Fal-inter or wint-ring are the new normal.  And there is nothing new under the stars - weather patterns are cyclical. 

Is it fal-inter? Or is it wint-ring?  

We will have another "big snow" event before the next solstice. We will also have another 50-degree day before ... and after that.

"It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself." ~ Charles Darwin

Choose ...

#embracechange

*Between hikes, Lillian Browne writes about the environment, politics, crime and business in Delaware County. She is a NYS licensed outdoor adventure guide exploring the world around her, one step at a time, with her dog - Charlie