Autumn: What Happened?

Autumn is probably my favorite time of year.  I'm a big summer girl, but autumn has a slight edge over summer for me.  (Only slight though.)  My sweet spot is the early autumn when the days are warmish and the nights are cool.  Those days where the colors are vivid and the air is crisp, but not biting.  When sweaters come out, but bulky coats aren't required.

What happened?

The summer weather stayed on.  We had air conditioning in October.  That's unheard of in Northern NJ.  (I am not complaining...I'm just stating the facts.)  Then for about a week or a week and a half, we got real fall weather.  The leaves finally got to show their beauty and then it was over.  We went right into the lower than average temperatures.

This past weekend we went away to the Poconos (yes, there will be a blog post on that eventually) and I expected colder temperatures.  After all you are in the mountains.  What I didn't expect (and I didn't see forecast) was SNOW.

Now we drove up on a Friday in the rain.  That did NOT make me happy.  (As we are nearly 12 inches OVER the average for rainfall this year in our area, rain REALLY doesn't make me happy!)  I grudgingly dealt with it.  I go to the Poconos to walk/hike. So when Saturday was partially sunny, I was happy to get outside, even though I did have to bundle up.  What I wasn't expecting was snow!

My son and I were hiking on a trail that I had not done before (and was a bit more challenging than I had anticipated; much due to all the rain which meant in several spots there was no way of avoiding traipsing through mud and water).  Suddenly I saw some white flakes.  It couldn't be, could it?  It was!  But it was only flurries...

And then it started to come down harder.  We kept going and it became a mini-squall.  (Nothing to panic about though.)  When we reached a spot where there was water that was quite deep and we would NOT be able to go around, I forced my son to turn around and head back.  By the time we got back to the lodge, the snow was long gone and it was sunny out.  (But very windy which made me shiver even in my puffy blue parka.)

But this WAS the Pocono Mountains.  Temperatures are colder.  I expected that.  I just didn't expect quite how cold it was going to be.  The wind didn't help either.  (Both of us had a bit of wind burn by the end of the weekend; the result of 3 separate hikes.)

Now here I am back home in NJ and I'm waiting for an onslaught of snow and ice today!  Today!  BEFORE Thanksgiving (which early this year; since there are 5 Thursdays in November.)  Snow predictions have gone from 1-3 inches to 3-5 inches to 5 to 8 inches to 3-5 inches and finally back to 1-3 inches.  It's before Thanksgiving!  I can tolerate (maybe) some flurries, but accumulation?  And then there's the ice that's supposed to follow.  (I am not at all convinced that the rain that is predicted for later in the evening will actually BE rain.  Temperatures may be above freezing, but only slightly.  I'm thinking 33 and 34 could still bring some snow/ice.)

So what the heck happened autumn?  Why did you flee so quickly and let winter push her way in?  This is supposed to be YOUR time!  It's too early for multi-layers! I should NOT be gassing up the snowblower and wearing my duck shoes.

I want to be thankful for you, autumn!  I AM thankful for you.  Please come back.  Kick that nasty cold weather out of here and let me show you some of the love that you deserve.

Please???

Updated:  Oh really???