It's been a lot worse

A scene in Middletown, Conn., just after the Blizzard of '88, still considered by many to be southern New England's most fabled  such storm, dumped more than 50 inches in some places on March 11-14, 1888.

"March is frequently a wintry month in New England. Not until the close of the month do the chances of a twelve-inch snowstorm or a morning of zero cold diminish to a minimal percentage possibility. One needs only recall the rugged month of March, 1956, when six storm systems crossed the region, and back-to-back snowstorms on March 17-18 and 20-21 paralyzed the Boston area.''

--From The Country Journal New England Weather Book, by David Ludlum

My siblings and I liked the March 1956 storms' drama on the Massachusetts coast, which included the wreck of the freighter Etrusco on the shores of Scituate and, of course, a few days without school.  My parents, however, were bitter about the inconvenience and disillusioned by Mother Nature's arrogance and deception. The storms followed what had been generally a very mild and easy (aka "open'') winter.

-- Robert Whitcomb

We're beyond this -- maybe

"Winter Blues'' (oil on canvas), by Nancy Whitcomb, in the show From "Wit and Whimsy (Nancy Whitcomb) to Underwater Photography" (Neil Greenspan, M.D.) at the Gallery at Temple Habonim, Barrrington, R.I., March 4-May 5. Artists' reception Sunday, March 6, 1-3 p.m. 

Temperatures may reach close to 70 this coming week, and we've had  a very mlld winter, except for a couple of days of record lows last month. But  blizzards  can descend on us in March -- most famously the Blizzard of '88 (1888), which paralyzed the Northeast for days, and three big snowstorms in a week in March 1956.

Still, that the crocuses are blooming in south-facing places raises one's hopes. Soon we'll enjoy the sweet melancholy of spring fever, which has always reminded me of the similar mood created by Indian Summer, in late October and early November.

--- Robert Whitcomb