A persimmon seed is a folklore that is too great not to give it a try. You split the seed lengthwise and look at the root inside to predict if the winter ahead will be mild or come with lots of snow!
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Yeah well, I haven't seen a persimmon tree around here so I have to go with the Old Farmer's Almanac, Farmers Almanac and NOAA, all of which give conflicting reports most of the time.
I used to follow all three of them and try to figure out how bad the winter is going to be, but not this year. Why should I worry about how cold or warm or snowy or wet it is? I don't farm, I don't travel on a daily basis, I have a roof over my head, I have a space heater and a wood stove, a generator and 50 gallons of gas, and plenty of food. They don't plow this far out of town and we've been iced in a week or two but other than boredom, nothing really changes at my place.
Sure, I pay close attention to the 10 day forecast and if I see a snow of ice storm coming, I'll go to the store three or four days in advance to buy any perishables we may be low on but that's about it, which is far better than the town people who wait until the day before the storm hits before they go do their panic buying only to find out the stores are all sold out of what they need.
I can go to the Walmart damned near any day of the week and usually find a parking place within 3-4 parking spots from the door, but the day before a winter storm? The parking lot will be packed full with people lined up on Hwy 52 waiting to turn in.
What's really funny though is that a mile and a half away at the Piggly Wiggly, there might be 10 more people in the store than there usually is even though they sell the exact same groceries that people are panic-buying at the Walmart, and within just a few cents in price.
And NOAA just released their 2023-24 winter predictions. The weatherguessers there say my area has an equal chance of above/below normal temps, which doesn't tell us a fucking thing.
Yeah, I'm old enough to remember the old school weatthermen with flat top buzz haircuts, short sleeve shirts with a pen in a pocket protector. Sun or Rain Cloud or Blowing Cloud applied to wall weather map. The facts and nothing but the facts. Farmers and ranchers paid close attention to those guys.
ReplyDeleteWith all the advances of radar, computer generated forecasts, I think the current Lying Larry is just as accurate as those pioneers before them. Just guessing, mostly.
I liked the "unexpected warming trend and the unpredictable change in weather pattern" they always gave instead of saying they didn't really know shit
DeleteDaryl
See spots on a lady bug
ReplyDeletech
yeah. I know the feeling too. after moving up to the hills of pa. put in 2 woodstoves and already had a good generator. did stock up on gas though. I keep about 30 gallons on hand
ReplyDeletenon corn with Stabil in it. have plenty of food/coffee on hand to last a good couple of months
so, really don't care what the weather does for the most part. have at least 2-3 cords of hardwood split and stack under cover, so no worries there. oil tanks are full but I hate the damn thing. runs like every 30 minutes or so and it warm then cold fast. wood heat is better. more even, longer lasting too. even the wife likes it better than the noise box.
don't drink anymore, so what beer and booze I have on hand will last. why go out if you don't have too ? and like you, I find it funny as hell all of those people running out for milk and bread the day before a storm. dave in pa.
"It's gonna be a terrible cold winter. Them Indians are gathering firewood like crazy!"
ReplyDeleteLoved your commentary. I, too, have seen long range forecasts that predict above and above temps. One guy says that we are in for horrible snows, but he is the harbinger of foul storms that never materialize (much like Neil Frank was in Houston). So, I keep enough supplies that we will not starve if we get a two week snow in (this has happened once since moving here). Other than that, I am not going to worry. Good luck, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThe Doom & Gloom guy you're speaking of sounds like the youtube channel Ryan Hall Y'all. With his live storm watches, I've heard him call for tornadoes in our area with the storm front 250 miles away.
DeleteAccording to the NOAA map, the forecast for my area in AL is the same as yours in TN. Reckon how much that "weather study" cost taxpayers?
ReplyDeleteBy guessing "above/below", you can always claim the predictions were correct.
ReplyDeleteWhat do the wooly worms indicate in your area?
ReplyDeleteThe stripes on them or the direction they travel across the road?
Deleteel nino = mild winter (generally speaking)
ReplyDeleteLooks like it might be bad here this winter, cracked open a Persimmon seed the other day and it said "Holy Shit!" inside.
ReplyDeleteWinter = cold, summer = hot, fall = breezy and spring = rain. If you keep that basic principle in mind you can't go wrong, lol..
ReplyDeleteAround here we don't get much of a winter most years but we do the same for hurricane season. Stock extras of long lasting supplies that are regularly used throughout the year and a couple days before any storms are predicted to hit get any last minute items and fresh items like bread, milk, etc and clean up the yard... If it hits us we clean up, repair or replace. If not then great,.....
JD
It’s going to be winter. If you’re north of Baltimore it’s going to be cold. Some days won’t be as bad as most days, others will be worse. Spring will happen the third week of March. Don’t get your hopes up. By May it’ll be beautiful. Two months later you’ll be flirting with heat stroke.
ReplyDeleteEvery 20 to 30 years we'll get an ice storm that closes everything down for a few days and panic ensues. I don't sweat it much.
ReplyDeleteWe get iced in once a year, sometimes twice, but it's usually for 3-4 days. Ag equipment traveling on my road usually breaks the ice up after a couple days.
Delete@ron- haha, i got it!!
ReplyDeleteken, i spent years trying to locate & ID persimmon in my hunt spots, deer love em. Easiest way to locate here is they are always the 1st tree to have leaves die and fall off...once you know where those were, in the spring and summer you can ID the bark & leaves way easier on mature trees..look along roadside (trailside) ditches and pond/swamp edges..they're usually in groups, single trees wont have fruit. if you find fruit in late September early october, give the tree a good shake and collect a bunch, really good when ripe
Thanks, I've heard that before but the trees around here I see turning first are always dogwoods and those damned ol' Bradford pears, then the maples and oaks.
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