upstate ny

There are different levels of cold in Oneonta; this is how I think of them:
1) first-period gym wet sneakers frosty grass in the shade melting in the sun (September)
2) wood smoke and dry fallen leaves (October)
3) slate-grey-dead/runny nose (November)
4) fresh wet stone dog kiss snow (December)
5) nose-hair-freezing (January)
6) screechy styrofoam snow eek it makes me grit my teeth (February)
7) put on shorts and go to Wilber Park; sit in the warm sun in the corner of the singles-tennis-wall (even though there's still snow on the ground), and pretend it's summer (March)
8) rainy-sunny you can smell the earth again hint of daffodils; cold fingers that smell salty like an old jacket, when you spend the day outside (April)
9) maple buds-smell in the rain run-around-without-a-sweater cool skin (May)
10) warm pavement windy first barbecue; hamburgers! (June)