Cold North Wind

My daughter has said that it is already too hot for cabbages in her garden in Chicago.  The day here began with a north wind.  We know the winds by their family, and a wind of the North family is sharp and wet and always cold.  I sometimes still think I can out fox the wind, but the wardrobe cover put on the line with more pegs than a hedgehog had danced into the willow tree by the time I was back indoors, so I accepted defeat as gracefully as possible and got myself and the damp cover into the house just before the black cloud coming from the west dumped a plump of hail on the deck.

It was too cold to stand in the wind today to photograph the black cloud on the horizon, so I offer this photo from earlier this year.  Today's black cloud and this one with its tail full of snow give us fair warning of what is coming if we can read it.  I am usually apt to look more at the blue sky around the cloud than the cloud itself or what it portends.

This blue-sky perspective can be an asset, but learning when to focus on clouds is important for my wee garden hopefuls. I won't be planting out my herbs today even in the comparative shelter of the raised beds, but tomorrow is another day for me and my basil.