This time of year, we start hearing predictions (wild guesses) as to the severity of the coming winter.
I’ve heard many wives’ tales, most not exactly true.
One is you can tell how much snow we will get by how high hornets build their nests. That is not true! However, hornets do use an incredibly complex mathematical equation, far beyond the scope of human understanding, to chose where they build their nest. Wherever they built it, just leave it alone! It might have an important part to play in the natural cycles of the universe. You never know.
Another tale is that the pattern of the woolly bear caterpillars fur coat will predict the winter. That is also not true! But, if you see a nightcrawler jump out of the ground and steal the fur off of the woolly bear, you know it’s gonna be a bad winter!
There are a couple of other sure-fire ways to predict the severity of the winter.
If you see beagle dogs carrying jumper cables around to get the rabbits started, it’s gonna be a bad winter! However, this is rare.
Another way to tell is come February with snow as deep as the axle on a Ferris wheel, and you come to the conclusion that the term all-season radial is rather misleading. Sure enough it’s a bad winter.
The best way, though, to tell is what my father-in-law would tell people if he was asked what kind of winter it was gonna be: “I will let you know come May.”
Gordon Meeder
Midland, Pennsylvania
