Tag: winter
The Hidden History of Groundhog Day
January 31, 2022[caption id="attachment_273823" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Punxsutawney Phil meets his adoring masses in 2020, when he called an early spring. What will he say this year?[/caption]
Early Wednesday morning, way out there in the small town of Punxsutawney, a portly aging man in top hat and tails will unceremoniously yank a grumpy groundhog from his winter den and present it to a roaring crowd numbering in the tens of thousands. The man then will whisper to the groundhog in a secret, shared language, what he calls “Groundhogese”…
And, for the 136th year since 1886, Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous rodent besides a…
The Healing Power of White Pine
January 24, 2022[caption id="attachment_273814" align="aligncenter" width="690"] The white pine in winter, one of the few sources of green in our wintry world.[/caption]
This deep in a surprisingly cold and snowy winter, you, like me, might be jonesing for some greenery, as winter’s bleakness can be a little depressing. I have just the antidote: get thee to the Pine Grove, an island of green in an ocean of winter’s browns and grays.
One of our visitors’ favorite sites on the Center’s 340 acres, the grove is oddly not a natural phenomenon at all, but instead an artificial plantation of white pines planted in…
Countdown: 10 Things I Love About Winter
January 10, 2022Last week, the first full week of the New Year, was a weird one weather-wise. It was supposed to snow last Monday for like 24 hours straight, but the snow slipped east and south instead, slamming DC and the Jersey shore. Then on Wednesday, the morning commute was icy, and finally, on Friday, we saw our first real snowfall of the year, a nice covering of three to five inches hereabouts.
Philadelphians LOVE to complain about weather, and winter gives us a lot to complain about. But TV meteorologists don’t help, always acting surprised when winter weather is cold, or…
Natural Selections: A fern for this season
January 5, 2022[caption id="attachment_273648" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Christmas fern, one of the few plants still green in a January forest.[/caption]
The New Year is a great time to go for a walk in a natural area near you– the Wissahickon, Andorra Meadow, the Schuylkill Center, anywhere. The walk likely helps you meet one of your resolutions– yes, get those 10,000 steps!– while being outside allows you to sidestep that accursed virus that’s been, sorry, plaguing us unmercifully for two years now. And being outdoors allows you to lower your stress levels, as time in nature is restorative and calming. In 2022, make sure…
December’s Weather: Hot, Hot, Hot
December 27, 2021[caption id="attachment_273548" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Since 1970, temperatures in Philadelphia during The Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 to January 5) increased over 5 degrees.[/caption]
It’s been a December to remember on the weather front.
Two weeks ago, a series of high-intensity tornadoes tore a 200-mile path from Arkansas and Missouri into Illinois and Kentucky, killing more than 85 people (as of this writing), with many more still missing. But then last week another-- very powerful and equally unusual-- system swept through the Great Plains and Midwest under weirdly warmed skies, spawning hurricane-level winds in Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota, killing another…
All We Want for Christmas
December 20, 2021[caption id="attachment_273543" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Santa visited Ridge Avenue two Saturdays ago to spread his Christmas cheer-- but what will he leave under Roxborough trees this year?[/caption]
With Christmas coming at week’s end, I asked a group of Roxborough leaders, community activists, nonprofit executives, and old friends what they wanted Santa to leave under their organization’s Christmas trees. As expected, they gave thoughtful, funny, and even surprising answers. Enjoy!
Michael Devigne, executive director of the Roxborough Development Corporation, told me via email, “This holiday season I would like to see Roxborough residents strolling Ridge Avenue and visiting our many shops and…
The Nature of the Holiday Season
December 13, 2021[caption id="attachment_273523" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Winterberry holly, a native holly whose bright red berries feed many birds throughout the winter, and one of the many symbols of the season.[/caption]
Winter formally arrives at 10:58 a.m. on Tuesday, December 21, that moment we call the winter solstice, both the shortest day and longest night of the year. Our staff-- like thousands of generations of humans before us-- will gather around a fire to mark that exact moment.
Still, for a naturalist like me, one of the pleasures of the holiday season is that we decorate homes and offices with innumerable nods to…
The Winters of Our Discontent
December 6, 2021[caption id="attachment_273514" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Wissahickon Valley Park under a recent winter's thin coating of snow. What will this winter bring?[/caption]
Last winter, Philadelphia received over 22 inches of snow at the airport, just a hair above the long-term 20.5 inch average. But that’s 73 times the amount that dropped during the snowless winter before; if anything, our weather has become erratic and prone to extreme mood swings like this.
So I was intrigued by the Old Farmer’s Almanac prediction that this winter would be a “Season of Shivers.” The new season, they wrote, “will be punctuated by positively bone-chilling, below-average…
Winterfest with Nature Preschool: Winter, Stars, & Nature Crafts
December 18, 2014By Shannon Dryden, Nature Preschool Manager and Sweet Gum Classroom Lead Teacher
Stars are a practical and magical symbol for children and adults alike. They are a mystery of the sky, full of gas, providing us with light, and are still something that we don’t yet fully understand. They are a symbol of hope, something to wish upon, or a picture to represent many holiday celebrations this time of year. With the dawn of the winter season upon us and the upcoming winter solstice, Schuylkill Center just held its annual Winterfest, a star themed family event welcoming Schuylkill Center Nature Preschool…
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