Today it was a balmy 80ºF/ 27ºC (or more) in Tübingen. Seems like summer is here, eh? Well, before leaping to that conclusion we must recall that today is May 10th, and that the Ice Men of May may arrive starting tomorrow.

I first learned about the Ice Men of May back in Bolzano – it’s a German tradition, as well as Austrian/Tyrolean.  One of the teachers in my German class mentioned this today. The essence of the story is that while early May can be warm, there can be a period near the middle of May when the temperature plummet below freezing at night. This is important for all the farmers to keep in mind, of course, since they have already started planting their fields, and freezing weather will endanger the crops. The Ice Men of May all have names – you can read more about it in the post I wrote on the Bolzano blog last year:

http://22bz.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/beware-the-ice-men-of-may/

I’ll let you know if any of the Ice Men of May put in an appearance this weekend.