The Beauty of Winter

[_Keith]

I guess it was Wal's reply to an eariler email that sparked this thought.  As I was out just a little while ago picking up tender plants and covering the one palm I was worried about, I again remembered the beauty of winter.  Here in Louisiana winter is a time of clear vision.  For one thing it is clear physically and virtually with visibility for miles.  No haze, just clear blue skies and even clearer air near the ground.  The angles of the sun give the water an entirely different look too.   Being a fisherman, I alway remember marsh fishing at this time of year being great.  I guess my memories also remember the sun angles on the water, because no matter where I am when I see the water with this kind of reflection I immediately flash back to some outstanding angling days.  And the smells are as clear as the air.  The sound of the wind through the trees is even different.  With all of the deciduous leaves on the ground rather than the trees it also seems that I also notice unique things each year that I had never noticed before.  So, while winter always brings a sense of panic for us zone pushers, it also has its own unique beauty as well.  It is a time of renewal.  I cannot imagine appreciating the warmth of spring and summer without this brief spout of winter to spur my soul.  

What are the positive spots of winter for you?

[NBTX11]

Great post Keith...although I always say I hate winter, I really don't hate it.  The occasional cool blast is is sometimes refreshing.  I'm just glad it doesn't stick around and there is usually a warmup just around the corner.  That is why I enjoy living here as opposed to say, the midwest where I grew up, where winter hangs on month after month.  I don't think I could wait that long for warmth any more.  Every cold day leads to a warm one just around the corner.

[Derekjp]

Sometimes we need to experience the bad (cold   ), to truely appreciate the good (warm ).  I've thought many times if I had grown up in a tropical climate with palm trees it might not mean as much to me as it does today.

[amazondk]

I was a ski racer when younger.  Not a real good one, but I did mange to make it down the mountain at a pretty good speed.  Winter in the Rocky mountains is a special time.  The forest covered with snow is silent and very pure.  On days where the sun would shine the view from the top of America was always breathtaking.  I hope I can get up to Montana next year during the winter.  Here on the equator the seasons are very subtle.  The new year has come in very wet.  The days have been overcast.  The thermometer stays under 90F and the tree frogs are having a great time croaking around the neighborhood.  Here where the winter is really the southern hemisphere summer one day can be summer and the next winter.  But, in reality there is no winter, but the seasons change.  When the sun comes out this time of the year the equatorial light is brilliant and the contrasts are sharp.  And, as the water in the rivers are rising all over the basin the force of the rivers on the seasons is marked.

dk

[_Keith]

A few shots of winter.

Notice the winter berries next to the statue.

A couple of those palms that may not make it, but they sure look good today.

And those great winter sun angles on the water

[edbrown_3]

Keith,

What is the name of the fern you have growing there. The Chameadorea lookis like C. microspadix which has survived 12F here in Jax ..  

Best wishes

Ed

[_Keith]

The fern is a plain old Boston Fern.  Totally not hardy here if you read the book, but makes a great groundcover in the shade, and winter is the only thing that keeps it in check.  We had a mild one last year and it started to take over the world.  

Yes on Chamaedorea microspadix .  I am not worried at all about it.  Dypsis lutescens behind it does worry me a bit, but it was a bargain buy at a big box so Ce' la vie.

The Austrailian Tree Fern has seen 24 before and recovered, so I think it is OK as well.

[cobra2326]

What do you think that Pinanga's chances are?  Let us know how it does, I've always wanted one, but I'm scared.

[_Keith]

Will do, by the way, just to show that zone ratings are suggestions at best, behind that 6 foot tall statue is a Schefflera.  It has been with me through 3 houses, has seen the low 20s, and is now 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide.  It is regarded here as a typical house plant, books say hardy to 50 degrees.   And beside it is a Norfolk Island Pine too.   I found it in a dump.  It had survived 24 degrees laying horizontal with a totally exposed root ball.  Never give up if you want it.  Sure, a freeze of 89 would take it out, but until then, the plants along with me will enjoy life every day.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

(keiththibodeaux @ Jan. 01 2008,16:53)

QUOTE

What are the positive spots of winter for you?

Only listening to you guys reminisce about it and  having to only see it on the weather channel and not out my windows.    

I don't miss snow blowers, ice trucks, skiing, snowmen, white Christmas', nothing...  Sorry to poopoo on the introspection!

The positive spots of winter for me are here...

:cool:

[bubba]

Keith,Great shots! Reminds me of some of those Gardens around Avery Islnd with all the Greek-like statutes.Good luck in the cold front and hopefully it will not be as bad as expected.

[Tyrone]

Well, winter isn't that cold here ie no snow and very rarely frost. The positive aspect is that I seem to get less palm damage in winter than summer nowadays. Palms that took off in the spring and appeared sunhardened are incinerated by the 44C summer days with high dessicating winds. I think they may be equivalent to the Southern California "Satan annas". It's after midnight now and it's 32C blowing a gale with 28% humidity. Expecting 40C tomorrow. It'll probably get higher. It all makes you appreciate winter a bit, and I never thought I'd ever say that.

regards

Tyrone

[Kim]

Keith, your fine description makes winter sound almost appealing...almost.  I agree the quality of the light in winter is different.  I see many more sunrises in winter than in summer, and the sky has a golden pink brilliance mixing with the soft cold blue that some fine painters have captured so well on canvas.  There is probably a scientific explanation for that relating to the low angle of the sun, but enjoying the colors is good enough for me. (But that low angle makes it seem like the sun is always blindingly in my eyes.)

Even though I do my share of whining about the cold temperatures, I feel lucky to live where snow is something occasionally seen sparkling in the distance, not something I have to live with for an entire season.

[_Keith]

Thanks all.  

I have to do this to keep my spirits up.  Tonight's nearly 12 hours below freezing will change my garden forever.  It has been quite a few years since we got this kind of blast, but at least I have lot of pictures.  So here are some more positive thoughts.

Winter sunsets.  Those brilliant orange and turqoise sunsets are always striking here in winter.  

And sounds seem to be so clear and crisp, they seem to travel for miles.  I love the sounds of the trains in winter, which I never seem to notice in summer.

[amazondk]

(PiousPalms @ Jan. 01 2008,19:48)

QUOTE

(keiththibodeaux @ Jan. 01 2008,16:53)

QUOTE

What are the positive spots of winter for you?

Only listening to you guys reminisce about it and  having to only see it on the weather channel and not out my windows.    

I don't miss snow blowers, ice trucks, skiing, snowmen, white Christmas', nothing...  Sorry to poopoo on the introspection!

The positive spots of winter for me are here...

:cool:

William,

I still would enjoy a week in the snow.  But, where I live that is just a brief trip and I can come back home where I never have to wear a jacket and can always go out in the garden in shorts and no shirt at 3 AM and feel comfortable.   And, I never ever will have to worry about protecting plants from the cold, only making sure they get enough water in our short dry season.

Here on the equator 3 degrees south, 3 degrees north or 0 degrees is the same.  Except that at 0 degrees satellite TV or  Satellite internet reception is worse.  There is some strange interference at 0 degrees.  At least that is what they tell me.

Just another typical winters night.

That is my latitude 3.2 degrees South and 60.03 degrees West.

Current Weather Conditions

Eduardo Gomes International, Brazil

(SBEG) 03-02S 060-03W

Conditions at

2008.01.03 0100 UTC

Wind Calm

Visibility greater than 7 mile(s)

Sky conditions mostly cloudy

Temperature 77 F (25 C)

Dew Point 73 F (23 C)

Relative Humidity 88%

Pressure (altimeter) 29.83 in. Hg (1010 hPa)

Here is my son, who lives in Fort Lauderdale,  surfing on the Equator monument about 350 kms north of Manaus in September.  It is sort of in a poor state though.  I go over this point all the time, about once a month, either by air or car.  It is interesting how the climate flips on such a short distance.  Here it is wet and north of the line it is dry right now.  And, in 5 months it will reverse.  But, I still look forward to being in the northern Rockies in the snow again.  And, then coming back to my part of the Equatorial tropics.  I love it here in the middle of the largest tropical forest in the world living on the largest river in the world right in the middle of South America.

[JakeK]

(keiththibodeaux @ Jan. 01 2008,16:53)

QUOTE

What are the positive spots of winter for you?

There are none.

The temp hit 9*F with wind gusts over 40mph and blowing snow last night. I had a cold windy and snowy walk into work today.

Winter means high utility bills, sub-zero temperatures at least one night a year, lots of cold rainy days, hardly any snow, busted water pipes, cars that won't start, slick roads & icy hills, frostbite and cold walks into work and the bars.

This weekend we'll be back up in the mid-50's though.

[amazondk]

Jake,

That just sounds wonderful.  In the late 80's I used to work as a sales manager for a Miami based transportation company.  My territory included all of South America, Detroit, New York, and Chicago. I was constantly going either north or south.  It was quite a contrast being on Avenida Atlantica in Rio de Janeiro one week and sliding around the icey streets of Detroit the next one.  The great thing of not living where winter is a part of life is that you can choose to enjoy it on your terms not on mother nature's.  

dk

[aussiearoids]

I love winter , cause thats when I can finally wear shorts , as there are no damn Mossies around then .

And the rains finally finish [usually] , and I can finally get under a blanket in bed .

[PalmGuyWC]

I'm sorry but I can't wax nostalgic about winter. As a commercial pilot for 32 years, I saw enough snow and blizzards in Chicago, Denver, and most of the midwest to last me a lifetime. Believe me, it's not fun landing in that stuff, with a 30 knot cross wind, and getting bumped around pretty hard. Then there are the times when the brakeing is reported as good, and you find youself landing on a sheet of ice and you stop just feet from the end of the runway. That happened to me once in Medford Oragon. Thank God the wind was coming right down the runway, but we stopped less than 100' from the end. It was so slippery we couldn't even taxi in, and had to have a tractor tow us to the terminal. Thanks, but I'll take the good old summer time.

Dick

[putu enjula]

Not the best shot because I was in my car when I took this...   how often can you get a Coco palm and snow in the same frame?

[_Keith]

(putu enjula @ Jan. 11 2008,02:04)

QUOTE

  how often can you get a Coco palm and snow in the same frame?

First one I have seen.  

I sometimes envy those in tropical climates, but then again it is our short winter that truly makes me appreciate summer.    Kind of like love, you don't truly appreciate it till its gone, but summer comes back ever year.

[happ]

These photos were taken last Monday after a series of storms moved thru California & dropped snow down to 4000'.  Of-course beauty is in the eye of the gardener, so to speak, since temps have been chilly all week.

[_Keith]

Those pics are awesome.  I love how clear the air gets in the winter.  I just walked out to look at the stars for a few minutes.  Skies here are crystal clear tonight with only a sliver of moon showing.

[BobbyinNY]

There are none.

The temp hit 9*F with wind gusts over 40mph and blowing snow last night. I had a cold windy and snowy walk into work today.

Winter means high utility bills, sub-zero temperatures at least one night a year, lots of cold rainy days, hardly any snow, busted water pipes, cars that won't start, slick roads & icy hills, frostbite and cold walks into work and the bars.

This weekend we'll be back up in the mid-50's though.

WOW... Jake that's really cold..  I don't remember the last time it got that cold here... Only been down to 15f so far this winter - no snow to speak of.... It was in the high 60's last week, but now it's hovering in the boring 40's, but it's 80f in my little biosphere where I'm sitting on this sunny sunday morning typing this   .. My little piece of the tropics until I move...   I REALLY hate winter - I want it once a year for a week during Christmas, and want to be sitting in a chalet in the mountains of vermont getting drunk and watching the snow outside.. then go right back to the warm weather when that week is over.

[amazondk]

Bobby,

A week is good amount of time to enjoy winter.  

dk

[Walter John]

I love the sounds of the trains in winter,

What a cool line, gotta be song out of that.

[amazondk]

Happ, those are great pictures.

It has been raining here everyday and been overcast much of the time.  This the the normal winter rainy season pattern.  But, this year I guess due to la niña the rains are more constant and heavier.  Today was a cool winters day, at noon the temperature was at 25 C / 77 F.  On the way home the sun had come out and the clear equatorial light was crisp.  This picture was taken at about 5 PM which is an hour from twilight so the light is nice and golden.  It looks like the city has yet to take one of the street light mounted christmas ornaments down.  I noticed on a street temperature sign that the temperature had risen to 27 C / 80 F since the sun had come out.

It may be southern hemisphere summer, but here it is equatorial winter.  

dk

[happ]

Agree those photos are great courtsey of Bill Reid - AMS-LA.  Here are a few more from LAX

Snow has melted except on highest peaks.  Santa ana's like chinook winds, eat snow  

[amazondk]

The winter rains let up a bit and some sun came out today.  It was not too hot though.  I was at the port terminal loading some containers with wood and took this shot looking out over one of the port terminals in Manaus, Super Terminais.  The owner is a friend of mine and landscaped the terminal perimeter with coconuts that he brought up to Manaus from Bahia.  I sort of like the coconut container mix.  The view out across the Negro River is also great.  

The thing I like about winter here is that it is warm, but normally does not boil yours brains like it does in the dry season.  I suppose the temperature was around 85 F more or less at this time, which was around 10 AM.

dk

[happ]

Don

It's great having a palm grower on the equator   [do you ever want a different season?

[amazondk]

Happ,

By the end of the rainy season it is real nice to have more sun and less rain.  And, by the end of the dry season (July through October) it is nice to see more rain and less heat again.  That is enough seasons for me.  The nice thing about this time of year is that you never have to worry about watering any plants.  The bad thing is that it is impossible to keep your car clean.

dk