Sometimes I catch him just sitting and staring out the window; sitting in the sun room head on the arm of the couch, waiting. He will inhale deeply, expanding his barreled chest oh so wide, followed by a deep sigh that emanates from his mouth. The sigh is a sign of his patience getting weary; he’s been waiting for a long time. He doesn't know when it will be here, but he is almost sure that it will come….almost.Here in Indiana, we had an unseasonably warm November. And December has also started with extremely mild weather; we have had 50-60 degree temperatures. Anyone who has lived in Indiana for more than 5 years knows that we typically have had snow by now and wearing shorts or a tank top in the month of December is definitely not practiced by the average citizen. But, alas, I walked outside on Saturday in my tank top to put some recyclables in the recycling bin.
Last winter was like this too. We had an extremely warm winter
with almost no snowfall and many days of record high temperatures. This of course
was followed by the driest summer on record, directly affecting the yield of
all crops here in Indiana. Since we are a part of the ‘Bread basket of the
world,” I know that this could also affect food prices.
I have lived in
central Indiana my entire life, all 27 years. I remember the winters more than
any other season: the slick roads, my stepfather adhering chains to the tires
of the lawn mower so we could plow the driveway and get the cars out, the school
closings (once for an entire two weeks after Christmas break-giving us 4 weeks
off total ). I also remember sledding and making snow angels with my sister;
throwing snowballs at the dogs. I remember the large ice stalactites that form
at the edge of the gutters and watching them fall from a distance when it was
sunny out and they began dripping water; mom screaming at us to stand back and
not to get under it, nervous for our safety. Sometimes it was snowing heavily by
Thanksgiving and we almost always had a white Christmas.
The past couple of Christmas’ haven’t been white.
In the winter of 2010, we had what the media referred to as “Snowpocalypse.”
We had inches of ice that year; not so much snow, but lots of freezing rain and
sleet. Recently, it hasn't even done that. It just drizzles rain occasionally
and we have a morning frost about 3 times a week. We have had pockets of cold weather here and
there, in between the tank top temperatures, but nothing that has required snow
boots or a car scraper. There has been no waking up to freshly fallen snow and
the crunching sound it makes under your shoes. I notice it is the look and
sound of snow I miss the most.
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| Moe digging in the snow, helping Jin clear the sidewalk 12/09 |
I also have also
witnessed others beginning to notice.
When in public I find myself overhearing conversations about
the erratic weather. It is actually quite the topic here in Indiana; we are
accustomed to some erratic weather, a random snow storm in May or June, or a
couple of days of 80 degree weather in October, but we aren’t used to atypical
weather lasting weeks and even months; making it no longer atypical right? Last
winter, while at the post office I was talking to an elderly woman while
in line. “I haven’t had to shovel my walkway this year” she said. “I have
shoveled my walkway at least once every winter for 65 years; this is the first
year I haven’t had to. Something is up,” she said, “and I don’t like it.” I
agreed with her and said that I too don’t like it and find it eerie. She seemed
to understand that the changing weather means worse things are on the horizon,
but the majority of the people whom I overhear seem to enjoy the warmer
weather. “I could get used to this” is the most common reply, followed by “I
love wearing shorts in December!”
It surprises me that no one attributes this irregular
weather to climate change, to our human impact on this Earth, or to carbon
dioxide levels in our atmosphere. I cannot understand why people do not bring
up climate change in these conversations, the conversations about the changing
climate. It is just brushed off as a ‘lucky’ opportunity to wear shorts and to
not have to warm your car up in the morning.
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| 12/09 |
I guess I should just be happy that people are noticing the
changing weather, it is a step in the right direction; however, it surprises me
that they aren't worried about it. Even after the scorching hot summer and the
negative impact it had on the farmers, people still make jokes. I think that
the only being I know not making jokes about the warm weather is Moe, our dog.
He is definitely noticing the lack of snow and he noticed
last year too. He is the only one whom I have witnessed depression slowly
sinking in with every 50 and 60 degree day.
Every year Moe looks forward to winter. He hates hot weather
and often refuses to go outside if it is 85 degrees or hotter. Once the leaves
start turning color his energy level begins to rise and he gets more excited to
be outside. The past few weeks have been hard on him; the temperature has been fluctuating,
one week we might experience 30 degree weather, the next 55 degree weather and
we haven’t had any snow. The weeks that
are cold, Moe is in a happy, excited mood spending more time outside. The weeks
that are warmer, he begins losing his winter hair and doesn’t appear to get
excited about anything; not even visiting friends.
During the colder temperatures Moe will sit, typically in
the sun room where it is the coldest and just look out the window. I know he’s
waiting for the snow to arrive, waiting for the moment that he gets to feel the
cold wetness between the pads of his feet for the first time that season. It is during these long waiting periods that
he sighs heavily, his patience growing weary. I know that the snow is his
refuge, offering a type of canine freedom only he can experience.
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| 12/09 |
Moe has been waiting a long time too. Last winter we didn’t
get snow, at least not enough for a dog to go bounding through. As I watch Moe
sitting and waiting, knowing that there is supposed to be snow and there isn’t,
I realize that he is one of few creatures I’ve interacted with who recognizes
that the climate is changing and not for the better.
And yet, like so many of us, he’s just sitting and waiting.
The more I get to know man, the more I love dogs--Charles de Gaulle
