TWO BOUTS OF WINTER (March 3, 2015)

Judging by all the sunshine and warmth, this winter is history. Although it may be a dash early for summing up this season’s weather, there are no signs that any caution is required. So, we had two bouts of winter this winter, just like the last (“Some Winter,” February 2, 2014). Both of them lasted no more than a week. The first one was between Christmas and New Year’s and the second one in early February. Between the two bouts, the weather was somewhere between fall and spring. This pattern has been repeating lately. A bad winter entails three or four bouts of real winter, while a good one entails one or two. Judging by the last decade or so, the number of bouts of real winter is decreasing. This holds for both Zagreb and Motovun, my two hometowns, which are not very different in terms of weather in spite of very different geographic positions on the forty-fifth parallel. In another decade or so, one can expect winters in name only. By then, bouts of real winter may become history, as well.