During the winters of 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, I extolled winter gardening and early planting. This year, we’ve had consistent winter cold and quantities of frozen precipitation, so the garden and I have rested. I doubt much that I planted last fall, with the exception of the garlic, survived the polar vortex. The kale, chard, and arugula will come back strongly once it starts to get warm, and there may be more turnips ready for pulling, but I can wait.
The sycamores on Roosevelt Island were displaying ghostly limbs normally concealed by green leaves.
Today, in fact, just a few days after our last wintry blast, I decided to walk down to the river. I had seen pictures of it frozen, though now I realize those pictures were taken not long after the infamous, aforementioned polar vortex, and appeared to be south of Alexandria.
Nope. No ice anywhere, just that snow.
The river flowing past Roosevelt Island is decidedly not frozen. As I stood looking at it, a duck flew over and landed, then paddled along, obviously insulated by down. In the past thirty years, I think the river has frozen thickly enough for walking or ice skating only once or twice. Even then, I think skating on it was dicey and local authorities recommended we stick to the C&O canal, which would be less deadly if you fell through the ice, depending on how deep it was at the time.
Normally, I see this skyline in the summer from a kayak.
I guess I should at least start thinking about what seeds to order, but when I look out the window, spring seems a way off, and somehow, that’s okay.
