poplar road

YAY! Hey... where are the pictures?!

We have rain this morning after several cm of snow. And it's supposed to warm up to 11 this week and rain constantly for several days. I hate to rain on your parade (ha ha) but I did hear we're in for a dryer, milder winter this year. Not good for the old snow pack, that's for sure. And not good for your well, I'd imagine.

It's raining like crazy here too. Making up for lost time. The 2 inches of snow we got yesterday is almost gone and the puddles on our unpaved gravel drive are nasty. And of course the street is now covered in gravel from the sand truck. I don't know why they bothered, they didn't even get here until after the snow stopped falling last night.

The fact that we had snow just a couple of days after I read all the dire El Nino warnings about a continuing drought and milder temperatures reassures me that although we may not see our usual two feet worth of snow over the course of this winter, there's no way we're getting NONE. So it's still quite possible we might get snow for Christmas. So there, weather forecasters!

The other thing to point out, too, is that my reading showed that last winter's weather was really odd (with no help from El Nino) and unusually mild and they're saying while our area will be milder than "normal" overall, it's still going to be colder than last winter. So the thing is, they really can't predict the weather all that accurately in these days of global warming and climate change.

Meanwhile I'll be doing whatever little rituals make me feel like I might have a chance at snow this holiday. I don't remember where I learned this one, but in my family we say that if we peel the skin off a mandarin orange in one single piece, we can make a wish. My wish is always the same... and since Richard brought home a box on Monday I've been eating/wishing at least once a day. (When it snowed yesterday of course, I began to think maybe I hadn't been specific enough about WHEN I want the snow.) Pretty silly, but it's habit, and it's comforting.

I wish Richard had been home with the camera yesterday so I could get some pictures - it was wetter snow that usual so it stuck beautifully along the sides of the trees facing the wind, with the other sides still untouched, and then the sun came out briefly. Magical. But on my desktop I've been enjoying the many gorgeous snowscapes I took last winter. It's only November, anyway. And now we're back to mild weather and rain. One last chance to get out in the garden and deal with the falling leaves - many still to fall, actually. It's not really winter, not just yet.

Funny - you and your pro-snow rituals and me with my wishing as hard as I can for no snow at all. Growing up in Van, I can understand your fascination with the stuff; as for me, I just cannot stand it - still. But if there's one thing worse than snow, it's a heavy rainfall afterwards, like today. YUCK!

please be more specific when you peel your next orange. We don't need the white stuff untill Xmas Eve!! when we arrive!